Samantha Allan Park Part 2: Out of the Shadows
by TheNerdyTomboyNewb96
Summary: Less than a year since the Foot fell, Sam has rekindled her relationship with the brothers, but of course, new threats and dangers are hiding right around the corner. New and old enemies, alien and human, will test both strength and their abilities to work together. What will become of the group as they challenge these new enemies, and will things go back to the way they once were?
1. Chapter 1

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's.  
**

Chapter #28

***Monday, February 2****nd****, 2015. 8:00p.m.*  
*Including the month of September, 6 months after the fall of the Foot*  
**

As soon as he heard footsteps, Mikey sat up some from his laid down position on the couch, He was surprised and a huge smile grew on his face as he saw Sam walk through the entry way.  
"Hey!" he called out to her. His smile soon faded as he realized what day it was. "Heyyy!" he said in a somewhat stricter tone. "Why are you here?"  
"Ahhh your welcomes are always so unique and pleasant" she teased in reply.  
Donnie had been sitting at his desk. He was just tinkering with some appliances that needed fixing, so the background noise throughout the lair had been quite comforting. He now swiveled his chair around and stood up to then walk over towards the girl.  
"What's in the bags?" he asked, titling his head to the side.  
Sam closed her eyes as she shot him a huge teeth filled smiled. "Why don't you look and find out?"  
"Why are you here?! Go home!" Raph shouted as he left the dojo and passed by the kitchen to now enter the living room.  
"Dauntless! Perfect timing! Heads up!" Sam called out as she launched one of the four bags at the largest brother.  
He looked down at the bag that was now in his hands, and then looked up at Sam with a perplexed expression. "What's in it?"  
"I dunno, I found yours in the dumpster" she said with a shrug.  
"HA!...oh wait were you joking?" Mikey asked, switching from 'in your face' to an expression of realization.  
Sam laughed. "Yes I'm joking! And where's the oldest?"  
"Back in his room" Mikey said, trying to look into the last two bags that were being held by Sam.  
She brought her hand to her mouth and shouted "LEO!"  
Donnie had taken a seat on the couch, curious as to what was in the bag. Raph shook his head as he sat to the right of Donnie, pushing a laughing Michelangelo out of the way in the process.  
Leo began making his way across the lair to join the rest of the group. Of course the first thing he did was start ridiculing Sam.  
"What are you doing here? You said you had mock AP exams tomorrow morning!"  
"Ugh! Just take your birthday present already. Don't take the fun out of this happy moment" she said as she held one of the bags in front of him until he finally took it.  
He looked at her with a serious look before he walked to sit down. "You better do well on those mock exams or else I'll personally kick your ass" he said with a grin as he pat her shoulder as he walked by and took a seat to the left of Donatello on the couch.  
"Does that mean the last one is for me?" Mikey said, jumping from foot to foot in place and holding his hands together in front of him in excitement.  
Sam had to fight to maintain her nonchalant look. "Was I supposed to get something for you?"  
The turtle pouted. "Dude, so not cool" he said as he crossed his arms and looked away. When he turned his head back a couple seconds later, a smiling Sam was holding the final bag in front of him.  
"*gasp* thank you Sam!" he said as he embraced her for a literal quick second and then sat in the free chair next to the couch.  
Sam laughed. "How can you thank me when you don't even know what it is?"  
He looked up at her as he plopped down in his seat. "Because you know me well enough to know I'll love it."  
"Guess you'll have to open it to find out" she said as she sat criss cross on the coffee table in front of them.

Each of the turtles took out their first gift and were shocked to see that Sam had bought each of them a new piece of clothing.  
"You bought us pants?" Leo asked, grateful but still confused.  
Sam nodded her head in excitement. "Yes. Yes I did. You guys need new clothes."  
"Because that's not insulting" Raph mumbled with a smirk, though he'd be a liar if he said he didn't like the dark gray color.  
Sam put her hands on her knees. "Say Raph, how old were you guys when you started wearing the main clothes you wear now?" she asked with wide questioning eyes.  
Raph squinted his eyes at her. "You've made your point."  
Sam returned to her relaxed position, but now so in a triumphant manner.  
Leo looked at the tags on the inside of the black sweat pants. "How did you know what sizes to buy?"  
"Lucky guess."  
"Really?"  
"Yes. It's definitely not because I measured your waists while you were sleeping on the couch the past few months."  
"Pfft" Donnie quickly covered his mouth and turned his head. He'd never told anyone (and he still never would) that one time he woke up by sensing someone nearby and could tell that it was Sam, but he had kept his eyes closed since he assumed she was trying to plan a prank. He had a hunch now that this is what she was doing.  
"If you guys like them then let me know so I can get more. I know you guys only have so many pairs of the shorts you wear now, so I can get you extras of these if you like them."  
The boys looked at the pants they all received and were shocked at how well Sam had picked pants that each of them was actually interested in wearing. Leo had received a pair of black sweatpants that were decently baggy but still somewhat formfitting. Raph had received a pair of loose dark gray shorts that were of a relatively soft material, and for him this was perfect since he had the largest muscles of his brothers, so the loose and softer shorts actually seemed like a perfect build for him. Donnie had received a pair of cargo pants with plenty of pockets for him to store extra gadgets in. And Mikey had received a pair of black basketball shorts with a bright orange stripe down the sides of each leg.

The boys all moved on to the next gift that was in each of their bags. Leo pulled out a pair of shoes that would seem huge to a normal human being, but to him they seemed to be a perfect size. They were a pair of ninja tabi shoes with the split toe in the front but with a more modern look since they were Adidas brand. They would still have to be altered some, but they looked incredible. The colors were plain and simple with black on top and an orange strap, but to Leo they were more than perfect.  
"Where did you find these?" he asked as he looked up at her in shock.  
"Amazon. That site has literally everything" Sam replied with a nod.  
Raph had begun pulling items out of his bag and was happily surprised at all the protective gear he had received. The turtles usually wore pads and guards on their arms or legs or wherever there was an area where the muscle was overused and could cause damage if something wasn't protecting that area, so Raph had received a left shoulder and left arm guard, knee pads, and a red shin guard.  
"Sorry, I could only get the one in red. The other ones in your size only came in gray. Everything your size seems to favor gray."  
"I'm surprised you were able to find my size" he said as he held the pieces up to where they would go on his body and was shocked that they seemed they would all actually fit.  
Donnie was now gawking at the new tech belt he had just unwrapped.  
"Now you don't have to wear everything all the time."  
Donnie couldn't keep himself from smiling. He felt that at times his endless amounts of gear covering his body kept him back from attacking tougher opponents, and now this belt PLUS all the pockets on the new cargo pants would definitely help him organize where he placed all his gear.  
"No way…" Mikey mumbled.  
Sam turned towards him, and now it was she who couldn't keep herself from smiling as she saw her friend hold up a brand new jacket that was an exact replica of the one that was already around his waist.  
"How did you find this?" he asked in awe.  
"Internet" she said as she pointed her finger at him. "Tis a beautiful thing. I was able to track it down to a store in the mall."  
Mikey was the most fashionable one of his brothers (at least he thought so) which was why he had never followed the samurai styled dress that his brothers had and instead had worn his shorts the way he wanted to and this was also why he wore his jacket around his waist. He had seen people dress like this on t.v. and had become more interested in following this trend that the style his brothers had chosen. When choosing this style, he just wore whichever sweatshirt he could fine that was in decent condition at the time and then continued to wear that sweatshirt for as long as he could. He never imagined that someone would notice how weathered and torn it had become and would then buy him a brand new one with every stitch in place.  
"Wow…thanks Sam" he said as his awed expression soon switched over to an excited smile.

Next, all the boys began opening the next gift in their piles. Donnie and Mikey had pulled out purple and orange colored bandage wraps, and Leo had pulled out a silver colored pack or bandage wraps.  
Sam clapped her hands together. "Sorry, I was trying to find a tougher more durable material, and the brand that got the best reviews didn't have blue. But! I tried to pick the color I thought you'd like best of what was available."  
Leo chuckled. "Silver is fine. It goes well with the blue."  
"Well I see how it is" Raph teased since he could tell by the wrapping that he had not received bandage wraps just like all his brothers.  
"Oh shut up and open your gift you big baby" Sam teased in return as she moved her leg so that she could poke Raph's knee with her foot.  
Raph chuckled as he opened his gift. He then revealed a red glove that was used when practicing throwing punches. He slipped the glove over his right hand and was amazed at how well it fit.  
Leo had continued opening his final gift and discovered he had also received knee pads that were his size (the four had begun outgrowing the multiple pads and guards they had been using, so these gifts were literally perfect for those who got them).  
Raph had unwrapped a box with seatbelt belts. To a normal person this might be an odd gift to gain a surplus of, but because of Raph's size it was difficult to find tougher rope like materials to wrap around his shell and plastron when trying to store weapons to carry, and the material of the belts was plenty tough and sturdy enough.  
Mikey had unpackaged a new backpack that was large enough for him to store his skateboard and other materials in, again so that he was better able to carry weapons and other materials with him when he left the lair.  
Donnie was the last to open his final gift. He opened up a tech kit with rechargeable batteries, jumper cables, a handheld jump box, and multiple portable chargers and charging chords.  
"Sam…" he said as he looked through the kit in shock at all the materials inside of it.  
"I knew you'd like that one. I'm not going to lie, that one was a little more last minute since you had just started setting up the new vacuum you were going to use as your main battery. So now if you need to charge it you can use all of this instead of having to literally wear solar panels all the time and-"  
"How did you afford all of this?" Donnie asked in a concerned tone.  
"Please tell me you didn't pay full price for all of this" Leo said as he looked back at his name brand shoes.  
"Okay one, everything I did buy I bought at awesome sale prices, and I'm insulted that you think I'd be dumb enough to buy name brand things at expensive prices. Like who do you think I am?" she playfully said and acted to be taken aback. "And two, I technically wasn't the only one to buy all this."  
"What does that mean?" Raph asked.  
"Well, I pitched in like 40 bucks because I guess I love you guys" she teased as she rolled her eyes, "but some other people helped pitched in as well. But they each pitched in like 5 bucks."  
"Who are these other people?" Donnie asked.  
"My human friends who were in the Foot clan with me, which is all my human friends except for three. They're all really grateful that you guys helped save all their lives and reunite them with their families, so they pitched in a little. They also helped in getting donations for the devices in your tech kit. Oh but Jay and Brenda pitched in 20 total. Because Jay loves you like you're his brothers. And now that Brenda has met you as his fiancé she also loves you guys, though she saw you as heroes and cared for your safety before that anyway."  
"And they are all-" Leo started.  
"Yes they are all keeping your existence a secret" Sam interrupted. "They hate that they don't get to see you anymore, but they understand and respect that it could be risky to do so."  
Leo smiled and nodded. "Well when you see them all again then you can thank them for us. And adding to that" he said as he put his belongings back in the bag and stood up and walked over towards the girl, "thank you Sam" he said as he hugged the girl.  
The other three brothers followed in pursuit as Donnie then came over and hugged Sam, then Raph, and then Mikey.

"Alright, time to go topside!" Sam announced. "Where's Sensei?"  
"Wait, what? You have exams tomorrow!" Raph bellowed.  
"Yes I know I have exams tomorrow, but I'm not going to miss April's surprise! Now go get Splinter!" Sam announced. The oldest three took the lead in heading out of the lair, but before Mikey could follow them he felt a sharp tug on his bandana just as he was about to exit the lair.  
"Owwww" he groaned as he was pulled backwards.  
"Hold on" Sam said. She looked over his shoulder to make sure that the other three had continued walking on and were no longer within sight.  
"What's wrong?" Mikey asked.  
Sam then reached her hand behind her and pulled out one final package that she had been hiding away in the backpack on her back.  
Mikey looked at her with worry. "Is it something bad? Why can't the others see?"  
Sam chuckled as she shook her head. "Just open it before they come back. Then I'll explain."  
Mikey cautiously opened the package and his jaw dropped as he held up a gold chain.  
"Sam, where did you-"  
"I found a store awhile back that had a good sale. Ever since your necklace broke I've been trying to find something perfect to replace it, and you cannot tell me that THAT is not perfect" she said with a beaming smile.  
"How much?"  
She paused. "How much what?"  
"Cost! Price!"  
"Dude, you never ask someone how much-"  
"I won't wear it unless you tell me" Mikey demanded.  
Sam sighed in defeat. "I bought it for 50 dollars."  
"Sam! I can't wear this! That means you spent…5 plus 4 is 8, so 50 plus 40 means 80 dollars! You should be saving up!"  
"Hey, I've been working overtime so that I could buy that! So I'd be insulted if you didn't wear it! Plus I bought it a while ago so I've saved up plenty since then. If you're really my best friend then you'll keep and wear it...and lie to your brothers and say I got it at a pawn shop for 20 dollars" she said timidly towards the end.  
Mikey sighed in defeat. "You're lucky it's PERFECT!" he said, quickly switching from his serious tone to one of excitement. He'd always wanted something like this, and he still couldn't believe that a gold chain was actually resting along his neck and chest.  
"So you like it?" Sam asked.  
"Are you kidding me? This is amazing! Like I want to be upset you wasted money on this but I can't because I love it!"  
"Hey, spending money on you isn't a waste. It's my first job, spending money on family is the best way to spend it. Especially when your family is also your best friend."  
Mikey couldn't help but smile at his friends words. He threw his arm around Sam's shoulder.  
"Alright, lead the way to wherever this next surprise is."  
And with that the two left the lair and eventually met up with the others before heading to the surface.

***About 12 minutes later***

****"Where are we?" Leo asked.  
"Follow me and you will find out" Sam state as she began climbing up the ladder to the surface.  
"Well, last time we were in this position we were lead to the inside of the Jumbo Tron, so why not" Donnie said as he began following Mikey (who hadn't questioned what Sam was doing at all and just instantly followed) and then Splinter, Leo, and then Raph climbed the ladder to the surface as well.  
Their spot on the surface was in an alley way. Sam then lead the group out of the alley way as they stood in front of a noodle shop named "24/7" that was at the end of a street filled with other small shops and restaurants that were family owned businesses. Sam walked right up to the front door and the turtles heard her be welcomed by April. The two women then peeked their heads around the corner once they realized they were no longer being followed.  
"Well? Are you going to join us? Or stand there all night?" April joked as she waved for them to walk forward.  
The following 5 moved with caution as they followed the two females into the small restaurant. They recognized the faces of Jay and Brenda sitting at the table and assumed that if all their friends were here then hopefully they were safe…at least until a stranger walked out from the kitchen, then the guys froze and began to mentally panic.  
The man stopped and paused before he spoke. "…Ahh Sam! You finally arrived! These three have been waiting for you and your friends. What took so long?" the older Asian man asked.  
"Sorry Murakami-san, I forgot to give one of my friends one of their gifts, so I accidentally held the rest of the group up hehe" she replied as she rubbed the back of her head.  
The turtles continued to stand frozen in fear, but Splinter sensed something and decided to take a seat.  
"So, what is your reasoning for accepting my sons and I like this my friend?" Splinter asked calmly.  
"Ahh these are your sons? You must be Splinter then. Nice to meet you, my name is Murakami. Your sons helped stop the Foot clan, which means that your sons helped free my daughter" the man said with a smile.  
Leo and Donnie were the next to catch on and realize that the man was wearing his dark black glasses for a reason as they sat down next to their father.  
"What's her name? We might have met her" Leo said.  
"Her name is Lindsey. Her last name is different from mine though. My wife Sana and I changed both of our daughter's last names years ago for various safety reasons."  
"She was the girl you guys heard through the walkie talkies that night" Sam stated as she pulled on Mikey and Raph's arms to get them to finally sit down.  
"Umm….so, he's not going to tell anyone what we look like, right?" Mikey whispered into Sam's ear.  
"Well he can't."  
"Why not?" Raph whispered.  
"Because he's blind. You both whisper really loud" Jay 'whispered' from across the table.  
"How's the wedding planning going?" Leo asked the couple sitting further down at the table while his two brothers were processing what they were just told as they watched the older man get to work and start cooking even though he was blind and couldn't see anything.  
"The wedding party has officially been decided, the church and the hall for the reception have been booked, and all the main guests have been decided. We've also made plans to meet with a catering company to get prices on the dishes they can prepare. Everything else still needs to be called to book a visiting date or we haven't even gotten to it yet" Brenda replied.  
"At least you have until the summer to have everything ready" Raph said as a drink was placed in front of him and everyone else all along the table.  
"Yeah, but that wedding date will be here sooner than you think" April teased.  
Jay squinted his eyes. "Thanks April, because that's what we want to hear" Jay teased.  
"Anytime!" she said as she raised her glass up.

Just then, a square plate was placed in front of everyone sitting at the table.  
"Ohhh yeah! Pizza gyoza! Thanks boss!" Sam said as she took her chopsticks.  
"Oh, so this is where you work?" Mikey asked.  
Sam nodded her head. "Mhmm, and this is the boss I told you about where I said I had friends who loved pizza more than anything which then inspired the heavenly dish in front of you."  
The four turtles and their father looked at the food in front of them, not sure whether to try it or not.  
"Well go on now!" Murakami exclaimed. "I can't thank you for saving my daughter if you don't try the food" he chuckled.  
Each of them picked up their chopsticks, picked up one of the dumplings on their plate, and then slowly took bites of their dumplings. It was obvious that each of them instantly fell in love with the dish, even Splinter who liked pizza but wasn't the biggest fan of it, and quickly they began eating the rest of the dumplings on their plates.  
"Heh, I knew they'd love it" April said as she continued to eat her dish as well. "So Brenda, do you have a dress picked out yet?"  
Brenda shook her head. "I'm trying to find a day where all the women in the bridal party can get together and we can put the order in for my dress and their dresses at the same time, but SOMEONE is always busy with something!" she said as she then turned towards Sam.  
"I don't know who you're talking about" Sam said nonchalantly.  
"Oh? So you don't have soccer, and dance, and a million other clubs and school activities to tend to? Speaking of which, don't you have mock exams tomorrow?"  
"Ughhhhhh why does everyone remember that? It's not even 10p.m. yet like get off my back" Sam groaned.  
"Get used to it. Once summer hits you're going to have a sister who nags as much as your brother" Brenda teased as she leaned onto Jay, who then smiled as he stared at the woman sitting next to him.  
"Ugh, I have two sister figures, six brothers between Jay, these dorks, and Kris, and now I have a father figure *tilts head towards Splinter* and now Irma is more of a mother figure than ever. Somehow my family continues to grow larger and larger."  
"Jeez Sam, you sound so happy" Raph teased as he ate his third round of pizza gyoza along with the rest of his brothers.  
"Eh, I guess so" she teased, receiving playful nudges from Raph and Donnie.

The group continued to talk for a while longer before Leonardo mentioned that he was going to go and walk off the huge meal he had just ate and that he would be back soon. As soon as the turtle left, Splinter began to stare at Sam who was drinking the broth from a small bowl of soup. Sam finished the bowl and placed it on the table as she stood.  
"Don't worry Sensei I'm going. But I wasn't going to waste good food either, that would be an insult to the chef."  
"Hehe, very true my child" he said with a smile as he watched the girl leave the small shop.

Sam walked around to the side of the building where no one could see her, and then faced her palms down as the white part of her eyes turned black and air slowly came out from her palms. She then floated up to the roof of the building. Once she landed, her eyes returned to their normal color as she walked over and took a seat next to Leo.  
"What's going on in your mind fearless?" she asked calmly.  
"*sigh* just thinking."  
"Well stop doing that! Because then you think of negative things from the past, and today should be a happy day!"  
"But it almost wasn't."  
"But it is. I know you're not like normal teenagers, but you should still be excited that it's your 16th birthday. What's there to be so upset about?"  
"That if we hadn't acted when we did then you might not be here to celebrate with us."  
Sam paused for a few minutes. It had been about 6 months since the fall of the Foot clan, yet all four of the turtles still had their moments where they got caught up in thoughts of the past and went into a depressive state.  
"Leo. You know that we all were going through a tough time then. You guys and myself made decisions that we weren't proud of. But if I've learned anything in this life, then it would be that if you don't keep trying to move on and make the future better than what has happened in the past, then what's the point in living? If I continued to get upset about my past, then I never would have moved on and started getting out of the house, and then I never would have met you guys."  
Leo looked over at her and smiled. "Yeah I know. I just, I just hate thinking that everything all of us have now, that was almost ripped away from all of us. And it kills me to think of what could have happened to you, how much worse it could have gotten…"  
"But what you keep forgetting is that you guys DID come after me. Even when I pushed you away you still came after me. That's why I'm here. Every time something went wrong, I was able to make it through to see the next day because you four were there for me when I needed you the most. I also would have made regretful choices if you guys weren't there to protect me."  
"Heh, thank god for Jay as well for helping the three of us open our eyes. I hate to admit that we needed that push, but that push made all of us realize what we were truly feeling and what we wanted to do."  
"He really cares about the four of you guys, and Sensei. He's even more grateful that he was able to reach you that night. You guys help complete his life the same way you helped complete mine. In a weird twisted way, maybe you needed to wait that long to come after me, because that meant Jay had to meet you and talk to you, and then that lead to you all getting to know each other after the fight that night as you were waiting for me to wake up in the hospital."  
"Well, everything has been weird and twisted for all of us, so you might be onto something there" he said with a smile.  
"So, are you ready to go back and celebrate what should be a joyous day now? Since you know, you four being born kind of plays a part in the whole bringing joy to my life and making me happy thing" Sam teased as she put a hand on Leo's shoulder.  
"Yeah, let's go."  
The two stood up and walked over towards the side of the building. There were no ladders or anything to help get back down (Leo had used climbing claws to climb up) so Sam helped him get back down. Her eyes turned black while the iris and pupil or her eyes turned blue as Leo wrapped an arm around her shoulders, the strength power from the mutagen aiding her in holding onto him, as she placed her palms so that they faced the ground as her wind powers allowed her to float back down to the ground. The two then entered the shop where they saw April arguing with Murakami.  
"But Murakami-san, it's not my part of the birthday gift if you don't let me pay you for the food."  
"It's my treat! You can tip 5 dollars, that's all!"  
"You just fed 9 people! That costs way more than 5 dollars!"  
Sam got her phone out and started rapidly texting someone. Leo leaned over her shoulder to look at her phone, and then he quickly realized what he was doing and quickly looked away with pursed lips as Sam playfully shot him a questioning look and turned away. After she received a response, she handed her phone to April who then read the conversation and decided to let Murakami win their verbal battle.

Everyone thanked Murakami who then told everyone they were allowed back at any time, and the group made their way outside.  
"What got you to give up?" Raph asked April.  
"Sam texted Lindsey who said I could pay her the money tomorrow and then she would move that to her father's safe in secret" she said with a beaming smile, feeling triumphant that she would be able to pay the man back for his generous services.  
"You sure are persistent" Jay teased.  
"That's how things get done! It's one of the reasons I got my promotion at work and now cover some of the most major news stories now" she said with pride.  
"What an honor, to know thee April O'Neil. Can I have your autograph?" Sam teased.  
"Nah, you're going to have to earn it."  
"But I'm too lazy" Sam groaned.  
"I don't know whether to laugh or be scared that the laziest person I know is also the strongest person I know" Donnie chuckled.  
"You should be worried, because you never know when I'll go rogue" Sam said as her eyes changed colors. "Or when I'll do this!" she said as she turned and went to slap Raph in the face, but dodged last second. This still freaked the largest turtle out, which then lead him to chase Sam.  
"Aghh, Sam get back here so I can kick your ass!"  
"Um hey! No!" Jay intervened. "She has mock exams tomorrow morning!"  
"Oh, right…so how about tomorrow night then?"  
"Beat her up, do whatever."  
"JAY!" Sam shouted.  
"You were dumb enough to fake slap a 6'5 mutant turtle. If you were going to do that then you must be ready for the consequences."  
"I like your thinking" Raph said as he threw an arm around Jay's shoulder.  
"My brothers are ganging up on me. Best friend!"  
Mikey then playfully jumped in front of Sam and performed awkward ninja kicks. "No one hurts my friend!"  
"Yeah, yeah. Kick her butt and save her and whatever else tomorrow. She needs to go home and sleep so she can be ready for her tests early tomorrow morning" Jay said in a more serious tone.

The group of nine all said their goodbyes to each other and parted ways, knowing they would all meet up again soon.

**GUESS WHO IS BACK IN BUISNESS!  
Yes, for anyone who is still interested in this series, I am back. I'm so excited to be writing new material again.**

**I just want to announce now that changes have been made throughout the first 27 chapters though. I had a friend tell me that I should also share my story on other websites, but before I uploaded my chapters onto other websites I re-read and revised each chapter. I mainly did this to correct and spelling errors and things like that, but there are like 2 or 3 major changes that I made that will effect the story in the further future.**

**If you have an A03, Deviant Art, or Tumblr account then you can read the revised chapters there. Sadly I don't know how to update chapters on this site or else I would have done so. BUT I'm finally writing new material overall, and this is the first chapter of hopefully multiple new chapters during my winter break.**

**Hope this was worth the wait! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN.  
Thank you.****  
**

Chapter #29

***Friday June 5****th****, 2015*  
*9 months since the fall of the Foot clan. 4 months since last chapter***

****Sam was laying on her back on the top ledges inside the Jumbo Tron. She pulled her phone out and checked the time as she wondered what was taking so long for her friends to arrive. Just as she was looking at the time she saw a figure bounce off the side of the panels of the entry way above and then land on the further side of the squared spaced. Seconds later another figure appeared, extending their bo staff so that it stuck between the two panels of the entry way, allowing himself to swing himself down onto the ledges. The next figure bounced off the sides of the panels just like the first, and then the final figure hooked his katanas between the beams within the panels to swing himself down. Just as the final figure landed, the whistle was blown and the game began.  
"Alright guys! We made it just in time!" Donnie announced as the four lined up around the ledge and watched the game begin below. Raph was the furthest away, then Leo was on his left, then Donnie and then Mikey who stood closest to Sam.  
Sam sat up. "Just made it is right. What took so long?" she asked lazily.  
"Someone came up with a routine that we've never ever used and held us up" Raph said as he glared over at Mikey for a split second before quickly redirecting his attention back to the game below.  
The game was already picking up, and so was the guy's excitement.  
"When I say go, you say Knicks. Go,"  
"Knicks!"  
"GO!"  
"KNICKS!"  
"Go, go!"  
"Shoot the ball!"  
The ball swished through the net and the volume in the stadium rose, and the volume in the small space was even louder as the guys began cheering and dancing around as their team scored the first point of the game.  
Sam couldn't help but laugh at the four dorks in front of her. No matter how much their personalities differed, events like this brought them all together, and it definitely brought their silly sides out.  
"Were you sleeping? You look like you just woke up" Leo stated as he looked back at Sam who was now sitting criss cross in her spot on the upper ledge.  
"Nah, just laying down and getting comfy. Today was my last AP test and my last day of school" she said as she stretched out her arms.  
"I'm still surprised they let you graduate after missing the first three months of school" Raph said as he walked around the space and grabbed the pizza boxes, handing the first slice to Sam who was sitting right by the boxes. He could tell she must be exhausted if she hadn't even reached for the food sitting right next to her.  
"Thanks" she said as she took the slice. "And luckily the New York Foot Survivors organization saved me on that one. They set me up for an incredibly adaptive and accommodating home schooling system that met me both at the hospital for the first two months and then at my apartment for the final month. I still can't believe I was on 'medical leave' for that long though."  
"Well you were hurt pretty bad, and you had a multitude of different wounds, and not just physical" Donnie stated as reached for the pizza boxes that Raph had tossed onto the upper ledge behind Mikey and himself.  
"True. I'm just glad all the hospital visits and meeting with therapists is over. At least it was all easier this time around, that and each individual visit was much quicker than they were in the past" she said with relief. "Plus, now that school is over with, I'm free to hang out with you guys whenever I want to" she said with a huge smile.  
Leo was now walking around the upper ledge. "What are you talking about? You see us plenty, even with all the stuff you have going on. I honestly expected to see you a lot less throughout this year." He then took the slice that Donnie had tossed him as he continued to walk along the top ledge of their space.  
"Pshh I wasn't that busy" Sam teased, waving her hand in front of her.  
This received a quick questioning stare from all four of the brothers.  
"Really? Let's go around and list the events of your life since September 2nd of 2014 up until today June 5th 2015" Leo said with a smirk. "First there was you being hospitalized for two months and overall being out of school for 3 total months."  
"And during and after your hospitalization you were working on classwork and studying for AP tests" Donnie added as he tossed a slice down to Mikey who was sitting on the lower ledge.  
"Then there were all the clubs you joined and had to get updates from through school" Mikey added.  
"Then you had nonstop dance and soccer practices" Raph added.  
"Plus secretly advocating in various ways for the NYFS" Donnie said.  
"Plus senior stuff like the senior vs. junior girl's flag football game and the senior fashion show" Mikey added.  
"Plus you've taken up different odd jobs throughout different times in the year from private soccer lessons to group dance classes for kids as beginners and working for Murakami" Raph added.  
"And to top it off you've been helping with wedding preparations all throughout the year" Leo added.  
Sam squinted at him. "Okay I may have been a litttttttle busy throughout this past year" she said with a smile.  
"Well now's the time to kick back and relax" Donnie said with a smile as he tossed Sam another slice and as he sat on the lower ledge to Mikey's right while Sam was on Mikey's left. "I mean, does it get any better than this?"  
"Yeah man, I wanna be down there" Mikey said, pointing his free hand down towards the large crowd below them.  
"Pshh, you sit your ugly self down there then you'd have people running for their lives" Raph said with a mocking smile.  
Mikey just smiled and 'smoothly' stated "You see me? I look goooood bro."  
"Fellas aye, aye, aye! We got the best seats in the house right here. Anyone can sit down there" Leo said as he hopped down and now stood next to Raph on the lower ledge.  
"We saved the city, we should be on the Jumbo Tron, not in it" Raph replied back in a rough voice.

Just then, the lights all throughout the stadium dimmed and a loud voice came on over the intercom. The voice began talking about the Foot clan and how Shredder was now locked away. The voice then introduced Vern as the cities hero and savior for single-handedly defeating the Shredder as he was then called up for an interview with a female announcer who was standing on the court. During the interview, Vern had stated that he had received help from a few friends in order to take Shredder down.

"*gasp* No way!" Mikey exclaimed as he threw his hands out in front of him in surprised excitement. "He's totally gonna give us props! Here it comes, ohhh here it comes!"  
_"Thunder, and lightning!" _Vern announced as he then kissed his biceps.  
"Awwww!" Donnie and Mikey groaned as they threw their heads back in disappointment and stood up while Mikey also waved his arms down towards the ground.  
"What is this?" Raph mumbled as he waved his arms down as well, annoyed at how the man reacted to the question asked.  
Leo noticed this and was slightly irked by the way his brothers were reacting to what had just happened.  
"Guys, you knew we couldn't take credit for bringing down Shredder. Vern's just sticking to the arrangement that we made for him" he reassured. He'd be a liar if he said he wasn't a bit upset with how Vern had just handled that situation, but it also shouldn't have been that big of a deal. They were ninjas and they were mutants, they would always live in the shadows and they should have known and understood that by now.  
"Yeah, well this arrangement has us spending the rest of our lives sitting in the nosebleeds" Raph groaned.  
Sam could sense the wheels turning in Mikey's head as she saw his face light up as he said "speaking of nosebleeds" and then swiftly turned and grabbed something from Donnie's pack.  
Donnie sensed this instantly and quickly walked over behind Mikey.  
"Hey! Hey what did you take?" he said in a worried panic. "Be careful with that, that's my pea shooter!"  
Raph and Leo from the other side of the square, and Sam who was sitting on the ledge behind where Mikey was now all smiled as they saw Mikey crouch down with the pea shooter he had snatched from Donnie.  
"Oh I gotta see this" Raph said as he rushed over and crouched behind the other open space behind his youngest brother. "You got this" he said, encouraging his brother.  
"Head shot. Straight head shot" Mikey said as he tried to focus his shot on the perfect spot. He licked his lips and then blew into the device and within a split second the spit wad within the device had landed a direct hit on Vern's face right in the middle of his interview.  
"OHHHHHH! Got him!" the group of five shouted as they all stood up and threw their arms up in the air.  
"That's my boy!" Sam shouted as she carefully leaped down from the upper ledge and onto Mikey's back. "Best sharp shooter in NYC!"  
"Oh my turn, my turn!" Raph said as he took the device from Mikey and set himself up. Mikey stood behind Raph on his right as Sam crouched down to Raph's left while Leo and Donnie crouched down on the other side of the space off to the right of Mikey.  
"Alright you got this" Mikey said as Raph quickly set up and blew into the device so that once again a spit wad nailed Vern in the face and stuck to his face like glue.

"OHHHHHH!"'s rang throughout the squared space once again as Raph and Mikey jumped up in excitement while throwing their hands up in the air with huge smiles while Leo and Donnie also had huge smiles on their faces as they brought a knuckle to their mouths in shocked excitement. Raph had been so in the zone as he quickly aimed his shot that he hadn't realized Sam was crouched down to his left, so when he and Mikey had jumped up in excitement, Raph completely knocked Sam over to the side to which she almost lost her balance and fell down through the large opening leading down onto the court. Luckily, Raph had grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back in time (and luckily her natural muscles were toned enough that the swift pull didn't hurt like hell) but for a split second she had been facing the bottom of the ground as if she was going to land a solid drop.  
The cheers momentarily stopped as they all witnessed what had just happened and were now waiting for a wide eyed Sam to react.  
Raph cringed as he reached his arms out in a comforting yet defensive manner.  
"Hehe, my bad" he said with an embarrassed and apologetic smile.  
Sam kept her wide eyed expression, but it was more comical than worried now.  
"Well that happened." She tilted her head to the side some. "You good bro? Like, you have any issues you need to bring up?"  
Raph rapidly shook his head. "Nope all is good, perfect, totally fine!"  
The rest of the group chuckled at Raph's reaction and how hasty his change in expression was whenever he did something that could cause harm to one of his family members.

Just then the group heard the announcer make it known that the interview was over as Vern groggily took his seat along the side of the court.  
Sam walked along the top ledge and around the guys as they all jumped to their feet and started flapping their arms (and somehow Donnie had ended with his arms bent like he was a chicken).  
"TAKE THAT FALCON!" the boys shouted as they also began to 'KA-KAW' likes birds in mockery of the man from down below.  
Once the four were done goofing off, Mikey and Raph had turned to their rights and were heading over towards where Sam was now standing as they reached for another slice of pizza. At that same moment, Donnie's turtle com walkie talkie that was attached to his shoulder went off.  
"Hey what's up April?" Donnie asked as he walked over towards the left and away from the group so that he could try to hear April better. The turtle com could be heard from anyone as long as there wasn't a chord attached so that the voice on the other line could only be heard from that ear piece, but it was still difficult to hear if there was too much noise, that or if it wasn't angled in the right direction.  
Mikey's face lit up as he then rushed over and was now glued to Donnie's back.  
"APRIL! Hey what's up April? Oh nothing I've been working out aghh!" Mikey groaned as Donnie had pulled his bo out and extended it so that it zapped Mikey. Donnie had collected and studied some of the mutagenic weapons (the others going to the NYFS) so that the remaining Foot clan members couldn't use them anymore, and in doing so he had found a way to update his bo staff so that it could use electricity as well, but without needing mutagen to do so. At moments like this, he was really glad that he had made the update.

Sam heard her friend groan in pain and instantly her eyes switched over to their blue and black colors without her even realizing they had done so. She was now glaring at an unaware Donnie as she took two steps towards him, again without realizing she was doing so, but before she could move any further Raph had caught on and swung an arm around her and pulled her back.  
"Whoaaa don't worry he's fine!" he said as he pulled Sam back and held her there for a second until her eyes returned to their normal color.  
"…what happened then?" she asked.  
"He was just being stupid and tried chasing after an adult woman who's wayyy out of his league" Raph said with smirk as he looked up and mocked his brother, who scowled at him with a "heyyy" in return.  
Sam nodded her head. "Ahhh got it. Thanks for looking out dauntless" she said as she turned back to smile at him and put her knuckle forward.  
Raph returned the fist bump and then joined back with his other two brothers to keep watching the game.

It still freaked Sam out that there were aspects to these new powers that she had that she still had absolutely no control over and no one else had any clue what to do about them either. Ever since Mikey had saved her and the mutagen from her sleeve had been injected and surged all throughout her body, the mutagen had now become a part of her. The guys would tease her in saying that now she was technically a mutant like them, though she had no problems with this whatsoever. Ever since the mutagen had become a part of her there were now moments like this that neither she nor anyone else could explain. One of these new aspects was that regardless of whether she used the strength or wind powers her eyes always switched over to their blue surrounded by black color. Another new aspect was that whenever she sensed that one of the brothers was in trouble, her powers would kick in and she would instantly feel the need to protect them, almost like she was Bruce Banner going Hulk and had no idea why she was doing so and couldn't refrain from doing so either. It was like she would fall into an unconscious protective state. This had happened a few times. The first time happened when Donnie had lightly burned himself in his lab and for whatever reason Sam's powers kicked in and she literally smashed the device that had burned him without her even realizing she had done so until about thirty seconds later after he had calmed her down. There were other times where Raph was chasing after Mikey because of something stupid that youngest had done to annoy his older brother and Sam had gone off. What was strange was that there were other times where Sam saw this happen and yet nothing was triggered. There was one time she watched Raph and Leo get into a verbal argument and she was set off, but that only happened once and literally every other verbal argument she had observed within the group had never set her off like that one individual argument had. She also trained with the boys as often as she could, and again, nothing during these sessions had ever set her powers off, so it was difficult for any of them to learn from the occurrences to notice any similarities or any patterns. The only thing they had learned so far was that if they intervened immediately after they noticed the change then they had a chance to calm her down and prevent anything serious from happening, and luckily nothing serious had resulted as of now.

"Oh Baxter Stockman."  
The sound of Donnie's voice somehow pulled Sam away from her wandering thoughts, and now her mind was filled with curiosity as she wondered what Donnie and April could be discussing that he had walked off to the side so he could focus on the conversation. Sam sat up on the top ledge behind where the guys were standing as she slipped an ear piece out of her pocket and clicked a button on it that would instantly let her hear what was being said in the conversation as if the phone was right at her ear. At this point, Sam had heard April share some information about Baxter Stockman and how she thought he was now working with the Foot Clan.  
"Shredder. Do you need us there?" Donnie asked.  
"Pshh, Baxter's a softie" Sam muttered aloud, that fast completely forgetting that she was supposed to be acting sneaky and wasn't supposed to be listening, which Donnie made evident as he turned around and shot her an irked slash confused look. Sam shrugged with a smile as Donnie rolled his eyes and turned back around in order to continue focusing on his conversation with April.  
April let out a low laugh on the other line. "_Pretty much what she said. Oh, but you know that birthday present that you made for me?"  
_"The watch yeah" Donnie replied.  
_"I want to use it to try and hack into Baxter's emails."  
_"Okay April but if you want to hack into his accounts you'll need to get close."  
_"How close?"  
_"Your watch needs to be within three feet of his device. iPad, iPhone, whatever."  
_"Got it. Good looking out buddy. Talk to you soon."  
_Once the phone clicked off Donnie turned around and stared at Sam.  
Sam was sitting up straight with her legs crossed as she shot him a wide smile.  
"How sweet of you too look out buddy. You're just the best" she teased as the turtle walked over and sat next to her, playfully pushing her over (Sam not having the best balance in the way she was sitting) as he spoke to her.  
"I'm sorry, but last time I checked, you said you weren't going to sneak around behind our backs anymore" he questioned with a smile.  
"Oh because intercepting one whole phone call is sooooooo despicable. I'm such a horrible person!" she said as she pushed him back, using just enough force to get him to topple over slightly the same way she just had.  
"You said it, not us" Raph said with a smirk as he turned to face her from his crouched position on the lower ledge.  
Sam responded with a mischievous look. "You know I could easily get revenge on your for knocking me over right now, right?"  
Raph looked at her with a raised brow and stood up to completely face her. "Alright let's go" he said as he cracked his knuckles.  
Sam's eyes went wide and without speaking or hinting at what she was going to do, she rolled backwards and to her left so that she moved behind Donatello and then rolled again so that she was now standing on her feet as she ran around to the other corner of the square…at least that was the plan, but in the midst of sloppily getting to her feet so quickly she had slipped when jumping from the upper to the lower ledge and had fallen onto Mikey. Luckily he was sitting far enough back that this didn't cause anything serious to happen, but of course Leonardo jumped up in a panic.  
"Sam!"  
"Hehe, my bad" she said as she looked up at Leo apologetically. She then turned towards Michelangelo to whom she was still leaning on from the fall. "How you doin?" she said in a lightly exuberant voice, to which her friend rolled his eyes and pushed her back to a position where she could stand back up.  
"Ugh, please be more careful" Leo groaned as his gaze turned back towards the game playing on down below now that the situation was calm and no longer seemed to be a serious matter. Raph had now moved to Leo's right and was in a crouched position with Leo standing up next to him. Donnie was also in a crouched position but was to Leo's left. In order to help Sam stand up, Mikey had scooted forward some so that he was now sitting at the edge of the bottom ledge. In one hand he held a pizza box, in the other he was eating a slice of pizza that he seemed to be enjoying a little too much, though Sam found this hilarious. Sam had walked so that she was now sitting in-between Donnie and Mikey as she also sat on the edge of the bottom ledge.  
"Pshh, I'm always careful" Sam said as she waved away Leo's comment.  
"One of you easily could have fallen after that stunt you just pulled" Leo replied, his eyes faced downwards as he spoke so that he could continue to watch the game.  
"Really? Do you know how skilled the five of us are? What are the odds that one of us would…" Sam's statement began to fade into mumbles as she watched a piece of pizza fall onto the floor of the stadium as she spoke. Everyone then looked up at Mikey with looks of worry and fear as Mikey responded to these looks with one of timidity and embarrassment.  
That quickly, a player from the opposing team had slipped on the piece of pizza that had fallen and before the man's body had even hit the floor the turtles were already on the move and ready to escape from their small space. Sam however couldn't contain her panicked excitement and froze in shock as her jaw dropped and shouted "OHH!" for a split second before Donnie instinctively covered her mouth and basically swooped her up in his arms as he trailed behind his three brothers as they immediately rushed out of and away from their normal spot which would no longer be seen as so.  
Once they reached the beams above, Donnie placed Sam down as the two rushed after the others and caught up within seconds.

The entire group traveled in speedy silence for the longest time as they ran and then climbed to the vent-way that lead to the roof and then traveled downwards along the side of the building (which they could do now since there were no crowds nearby with people that could see them) which lead them to a manhole that lead that back to their safety zone of the sewers below the surface. Once the group had been running for a couple of minutes underground, Donnie felt that the others probably felt a little calmer and could actually breathe again (which was how he was feeling right now) so he tried to start some type of conversation so that the run wasn't completely and awkwardly dead silent in attempts at easing the tension from before.  
"Well that was a close call" Donnie called out from the front of the group where he was running.  
Mikey was using his skateboard to pick up speed as he launched himself overtop of Donnie and grinded along a rail that was higher above where everyone was running. He then jumped over to the next rail but then kept his feet planted as he looked up through a sewer drain opening.  
"Now we have to find a new spot to watch the game now Mikey…MIKEY!" Raph shouted after he almost collided with Donnie who had almost collided with Mikey who had completely stopped in front of the continuously moving group. The three brothers skid to a stop and walked back over toward the youngest when they realized that he was completely distracted and was no longer moving.  
"Mikey, what're you doing?" Raph asked gently. At this point all the older turtles and Sam were now standing around Mikey as he looked up in astonishment at the sights in front of him.  
"It's the Halloween parade bro. I always wanted to be in the Halloween parade. It's like the one night of the year where we actually fit in" he said as his excited expression faded into a gloomier one.  
"Mikey, we'll never fit in" Leo stated in a solemn tone, but trying to switch over to a more light-hearted tone as he added "we're ninjas, we live in the shadow. Let's go." He then patted his brother's shoulder as he led the way and began running away. Raph followed and Donnie looked towards his younger brother and nodded his head to the side in a silent way of signaling that all was okay as he also tailed his older brothers. Mikey looked up one last time and then sighed, but before he began to run, he looked to his left and saw that Sam hadn't moved yet and was just staring at him.  
He squinted his eyes at her. "What are you thinking?"  
Sam just shrugged her shoulders, not speaking and not displaying any real emotion. The only expression she displayed was raised brows and pursed lips as she shrugged.  
Mikey nodded his head at her. "…blend in. I should blend in with my surroundings in the light, just like a ninja hiding in the shadows." He began to smile as he faced his friend once more and patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks Sam" he said as he then found a way to lift himself up onto the surface.  
Sam smiled as she watched her friend raise himself up out of the sewers and into the crowded streets. "Glad I could help." And with that she began jogging so that she could catch up with the others.

Just as she caught up to the group who was now walking, she heard Leo ask a question. She paused in place, not sure what to do.  
The three brothers stopped walking and paused, realizing that it had been awfully quiet behind them for far too long. They all turned around to see Sam staring at them, all by herself.  
"Sam, where's Mikey?"  
Sam stood there with her mouth open, feeling ridiculously unprepared, and disappointed in herself because of this.  
"Usually I'm good at this but I'm failing miserably" she eventually was able to spill out as she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.  
Raph happened to look up at saw his brother talking to a man dressed in a Transformers based costume in the middle of the street.  
"Are you kidding me?" All the brothers ironically stated at the same time. Leo saw that Mikey had begun to walk again and ran over to where the next manhole cover was located. He lifted it and called out to Mikey…only to have him jump down onto the cover that Leo was holding as it also pushed him back down.  
Sam's jaw dropped. She wanted Mikey to gain some confidence in himself and gain the freedom and pride in being who he was by blending in with the people of the city, but she never expected him to react that way to seeing Leo.  
"I didn't tell him to do that!" Sam said as she frantically pointed back and forth from the manhole cover above to where Leo had landed.  
Leo looked over at Sam irately in a way that Sam hadn't seen in a long time, not since that incident last year. This threw her off as she stared in his direction but then looked downwards towards his feet, feeling a mix of emotions after being stared at the way she had. Leo sensed this and withdrew from this stare immediately, but he was still pissed at what had just happened and at how Sam had disrespected his instructions as both the leader and the oldest brother to his youngest brother and most vulnerable teammate.  
"Sam?" Donnie asked in concern, which also lead to Leo softening his expression some.  
_"New York in the houseeeeeeeeee!" _Mikey shouted out from above.  
"Ughhh" Raph said as he rolled his eyes. "Where the hell did he get to?" he asked as he stormed off in pursuit of forcing his brother back underground, unlike the way Leo had gently tried to coerce him to come back down a minute ago.  
The sound of Mikey's voice had pulled Sam out of her funk as she also looked up towards the roof above them which lead to the city streets.  
"Sam, you good?" Leo asked in a softer tone.  
She then looked over at him and with a blank expression as she nodded at him.  
"Good" he said, the strictness returning to his voice but not as strongly as before. "Because we're going to have some words when we get home later."  
Still somewhat phased, Sam nodded her head and replied with a soft "yeah", the only thing she could think to respond with. What the hell was wrong with her right now?

Mikey being forcefully pulled down into the sewers by Raph somehow officially broke her from this lost and dazed mindset as the group now stared at the returned turtle in front of them.  
"That was the most amazing thing ever" he said with wide eyes and a huge smile on his face.  
"What part of ninjas move in the shadows don't you understand?" Raph snarled as he glared at his younger brother.  
Donnie heard his turtle com ring and answered the call as he took a step off to the side.  
"April, how'd it go?" he asked.  
Sam made it obvious that she was back to normal (as normal as she could get that is) as she walked over and held onto his arm as she listened to what April had to say, almost like his arm was the phone itself. He couldn't help but grin at the girl and her dorky antics as he pulled his arm away from her as he also listened and responded to April.  
"Hey you got in. What did you find?"  
_"Hold on, the files are erasing. It's some sort of self-destruct program."  
_"Erasing?" Donnie questioned.  
His brothers could tell that this was now a more serious conversation, so they all kept quiet so that they could do their best to listen in, but more so that they didn't break Donnie's concentration and thoughts as well.  
_"Before they started erasing I had a chance to read a couple of Baxter's emails and I was right. Baxter is working with the Foot clan. Shredder is being transported to a prison in upstate New York tonight and the Foot clan are planning on hitting the convoy."  
_Donnie's face displayed how worried he was about what he had just heard.  
"They're gonna break him out of police custody. He'll be free again" he stated, his voice slightly raising as he spoke.  
"Who Donnie?" Leo asked.  
Donnie turned to face the group, his worry evident in his eyes. "Shredder."

Then and there, each of the five looked at each other and nodded. They knew their 'relaxation' time was up and that now, as sudden as it was, now was the time to continue on with their fight against the Shredder, and they quickly worked together to form a plan as to how they would stop the devilish criminal from escaping.

**If anyone thinks that these chapters are ridiculously short, I'm so very sorry. I only have a little over a month before I have to go back to college, so my hopes are that if I break this section of the story up into quicker sections then maybe I can get more chapters uploaded quicker than if I tried to write really long chapters that I would then also have to go back and re-read before uploading. **

**But I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. Constructive criticism in always appreciated and extremely helpful **


	3. Chapter 3

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you.**

**Also, as I was planning out this next chapter, I realized that I made my chapter take place at the beginning of June…and Mikey went to the Halloween parade. We're just going to pretend that it's normal for a random Halloween parade to be held in the streets of N.Y. in the beginning of the summer xD**

****Chapter #30

*******Still June 5****th****, 2015*  
*Still in the sewers right after Donnie just gains information about Shredder being broken out of prison***

****As soon as Leo heard the name, he instantly thought of Sam. He looked at her with concern and was shocked at how much his and her expressions differed. While he looked worried at how she would react, she looked determined and confident.  
"Sam? You up for this?" he asked gently.  
Sam smirked as she looked in his direction. "We took him down…twice" she said with raised brows, momentarily forgetting that the guys had fought Shredder before she had even met them, "so this time will be the bonus round. Where do you need me?"  
"Eyes in the sky" Leo said with a confident smile as he and the rest of his brothers were now getting pumped up.  
Sam nodded her head and then looked at Donnie. "Drone?"  
"Already on it" Donnie replied as he was rummaging through the belongings in the pack on his back. He then pulled out a small drone where the legs were already folded so that it was easier to carry around. He handed this and the controller to Sam.  
"Use this to check out anything up ahead or coming from behind, that way we can focus on Shredder. If the Foot already begin attacking then it's no point in you hiding, then you can come back and join us. But for now find one of your usual hiding spots and stay low."  
"In this case high" she teased, since her spot would be up on a hill so she had accurate visual access to the highway they would be traveling on.  
"Whatever" he said playfully.  
"Alright, everyone keep in touch and we're on the move. Sam that means make sure you can easily hear and reach your turtle com!" Leo said as the four turtles dashed off in one direction.  
"Yeah yeah I know!" Sam groaned out loud.  
She quickly pulled a solid black t-shirt over top the one she was wearing and without ever actually stripping she switched shirts (times like these were the only times she ever actually changed her clothes quickly). She then pulled on a solid black beanie and put on a solid black surgical mask. She used to use wigs and contacts to help mask her identity as well, but she had donated her wigs to those who had lost their hair to human trials from being forced into the Foot clan, and for whatever reason, ever since the mutagen that saved her life had fused with her body, contacts just irritated the hell out of her eyes. Because of all of this, Sam just did the best to wear solid colors that didn't reveal anything about her personality and what her interests or beliefs were while also doing the best to cover her body as best as she could so that the only thing that was revealed about herself was that she was a white woman with brown hair and brown eyes. Once she had done all of this within a couple of minutes, Sam then dashed off down the tunnels of the sewers in the direction that she needed to go to reach her hiding spot.

***About 5 minutes later***

****Sam had reached her spot up on top of the hill. This particular spot was high up and back enough that the street lights missed it, so the majority of the hill was brightened up towards the bottom, but at the top it was rather dark, so wearing black clothes up here made it even easier to blend in and hide away from spying eyes. She then crouched down and removed the drone from her trusty backpack, her most favorite bag, and quickly set it up and started flying it up and down the highway to try and get a good look at what was happening. Just a few seconds later she heard a familiar voice call out to her.  
_"Sam, can you hear me?"  
_Sam grabbed the round walkie talkie, aka the turtle com, from her pocket and made sure to respond as soon as possible. "Yeah Leo I'm here."  
_"We're in the truck now and we're heading out" Leo added.  
_Sam then heard 'whoa', 'dude', 'what?', 'are you kidding me?' coming from Raph and Mikey from what sounded to be further back, so she assumed those two were seated towards the back of the truck and that Leo was in the passenger seat, and she already knew that Donnie would be sitting in the driver's seat.  
"Heh" Sam smirked, "Sounds like the guys in the back like your creation Dorkatello" the girl said in a proud but still playful tone towards her incredibly intelligent friend.  
_"Yeah but I'm telling you it'll be even better once it's finally done. There's a lot of tweaking still required."  
"Well no better time than the present" _Leo said.  
_"Yeah but see all these wires are still bunched up here. There's no organization to any of it! There's red wires and yellow wires-"  
"Donnie…" _Leo attempted to intervene.  
_"-and as you can see the spot-welding's not done yet and the seats don't recline when-"  
"Donnie!"  
_"Leo hit the red switch up top" Sam stated through her turtle com, assuming that Donnie wasn't paying attention to the moving vehicle based on the worry she heard in Leo's voice.  
_"What red switch?" _  
_"Red…oh!" _Donnie said.  
Sam assumed that he finally flipped the switch and that all was okay since Leo had finally stopped announcing his brother's name.

_"Alright, Shredder's convoy is 7.2 miles East Northeast. Punch it. Sam, keep us updated as best as you can" _Leo ordered.  
"On it."  
Sam got out her tablet that she used as her main GPS system and then continued to use the remote control for the drone, which had a small screen on it to observe what was being picked up by the camera, so that she could continue to watch where the transport van was located and where it was heading to next. She also got out her hacking phone so that she could hack into nearby street cameras and check around to see if anything suspicious was happening nearby and on the way towards the police van. Within a matter of minutes she was able to locate the van and continued to the track what street they were on and could update the turtles if anything unexpected happened.

At this point the main conversations being held in the truck were the brothers asking Donnie questions about different gadgets and other pieces of tech that were on display, so Sam decided that for now she could put her turtle com down and that it didn't need to stay on permanently. She laid the small device down on the ground and went back to focusing on the other devices in her hands: the remote control for the drone, the phone used for hacking the street cameras, and the tablet with the GPS system.  
As Sam followed through with her part of the plan, her mind simultaneously reflected on what had become of the Foot clan within the past almost year since the majority of the New York branch had fallen since September 2nd of 2014. Now that Shredder was locked up, Karai had been known to be taking charge and was leading both any dedicated and completely brainwashed and lost NY soldiers along with the many soldiers who had come from the Japanese branch. She had called in for a few more soldiers from the home branch to assist her, and according to intel from April and others from the NYFS organization, these soldiers were more than happy to assist Karai in rebuilding their Master Shredder's empire. This group then forced gangs like the Purple Dragons to do their dirty work for them, which Hun still helped greatly in that department, and then (in hopes of impressing her sensei) Karai decided to try a new tactic in recruiting brains for their clan. Instead of using force and intimidation, she would trick the gullible scientists by leading them to engulf themselves in their pride of their work as motivation to work for the Foot clan and would then use accounts set up by Sachs to fund them and provide them with needed tech to complete their work for the clan. This is where Baxter Stockman came in. No matter how successful he was and how many awards he had claimed for his accomplishments in so many different departments, because of how he was raised by his parents he never thought that he was as good as his brother, so when he was asked to come work for the Foot clan he took that as an honor. He knew people would try to get him to leave (since this was similar to the situation that scientists like Jordon Perry were put into when they thought it was an honor to work for Eric Sachs) so he did his best to hide this information from the rest of the world and let Karai and other Foot clan members sneak into his laboratory, like on nights like tonight, so that they could work together on various projects.  
They still had a long way to go, but Karai was fighting her hardest to rebuild the fallen clan, and Sam was hoping that tonight they would squash those attempts before they grew into anything more than simply that, attempts.

Just then, Sam saw some sketchy looking motorcyclists driving down a side street and then turn onto an exit leading towards the highway. She then checked back to the drone's screen and saw that the exit she had just seen would quickly lead to the section of the highway where the police van was currently located.  
"Donnie what's your location?"  
_"Passing through Eastman and Laird Street now, why?"  
_Sam quickly moved the screen around on her tablet.  
"Take Manor Street coming up in a couple minutes. It'll be a tight road but it'll get you to your location quicker. I suspect we already have company coming up."  
_"Alright, keep us posted Sam" _Leo stated.  
Sam nodded to herself as she continued to maintain the three devices in front of her. She then saw the sketchy cyclists take another exit and a chill went down her spine when she saw them drive through a grassy area and back onto the highway, giving them about a five minute time gap before they would hit the police van. Sam started rapidly packing up her belongings and drew the drone back over to her, all while communicating to the turtles through the turtle com.  
"Five minutes."  
_"What?"  
_Within one breath Sam somehow announced that "Five minutes is all you have cause the sketchy dudes took an exit off the highway and then illegally cut through to another section of the highway rather than taking the long and full way through and now they're close to the police van and-"  
_"Whoa Sam breath" _Raph announced from further back.  
_"Are they all still on route 33?" _Donnie asked.  
"Yes, that was the last place I saw them and I'm sure they won't get much further. I'm heading there now."  
_"Sam!" _Leo called out in a stern tone.  
"Leo those guys are going to get hurt if one of us doesn't get there in a matter of minutes and I'm not going to sit back and just watch it happen" Sam said as she finished collapsing the drone and packing it away in her backpack.  
She heard a sigh come through the other line before she finally heard Leo say _"fine, but be careful and stay in the shadows as best as you can and for as long as you can. Don't make any serious moves without us there."  
_"Got it. Meet you guys there."

Sam then turned off the turtle com and hooked it into its spot on her backpack strap. Her eyes went blue and black as she used her wind powers to help boost herself over towards where she needed to be. Using her wind powers she was able to shoot huge gusts of wind from her palms (sometimes she could shoot gusts from her whole body or other select parts, but she didn't know how to control these actions just yet) and had now gained enough control that she could use this power to fly around like Iron Man. As awesome as this was, she had no idea if there were any limits as to how much or how long she could use any of these powers, so she tried to only use them in dire situations, and she deemed this situation as extremely important since innocent lives were at risk once those Foot soldiers caught up with those police cars. The highway was surrounded by a wall on both sides of the road, so luckily she could use her powers without being seen. Once she reached her destination she launched herself over the wall, but she was just a second too late. Just as she reached the top of the wall she saw the black cyclists drive by and place what seemed to be orange colored oval devices on each of the black police cars as they then zoomed away.

"Oh shit…" was all Sam was able to even process through her mind as she saw the orange lights switch to red as the three cars in the back jumped up from the explosions underneath of them. Huge flames burst from under the cars as each of the three flipped onto their sides or tops. Before Sam could even move and react to go tend to the wounded officers, the remaining three cop cars that had been driving in front of the larger police van now faced the same fate as they were launched upwards from their explosions and then violently tumbled forward, only this time the situation was even worse because the police van was going so fast that it couldn't easily be stopped, and unintentionally it collided with two of the attacked cars.  
Sam took a few seconds to compose herself. She hadn't seen anyone terribly injured since her days in the clan, so quickly she needed to mentally prepare herself for what she might see. She began to clench her fists together as her thoughts switched from what she was afraid to see to what she needed to do, and finally she opened her eyes and once the coast was clear she darted out and carefully tried removing officers from their vehicles. At moments like these she was grateful that the mutagen had positively blended with her body and aided her strength, because her natural muscle alone would not have been able to help her move these officers with the muscular builds they had. She made sure to watch their necks, since her making careless moves could easily break their spines if any damage had been caused to the area. She also tried to watch out for any serious lacerations since accidentally pushing or pulling those could also cause some serious damage. Luckily none of the officers had been impaled with anything, but each of them had some serious cuts on their heads.

Just then Sam sensed something coming up quick and looked up to see Donnie and Leo sitting in the front seats of their truck. Sam nodded to them as they quickly drove by. Good, the turtles were closing in on the attack up ahead. Once Sam had then removed all the officers from their cars, she then pushed all the cars so that they were in a further down spot and blocking anyone from driving down that road any further. She then made sure to carefully maneuver the beings so that they were in a medically supported position on their sides so that they if they threw up or even if blood was in their system it wouldn't build up and make them drown just from laying on their backs. Shen finished her work by bandaging up any visible and serious cuts. As she did this, Sam wondered if this should have been her first move in case there were any officers who had serious enough wounds where they could bleed out, but her panicked thoughts were interrupted by someone shouting to her: "hey you!"  
She held onto the belongings that she had been packing up and now slowly turned around to see that one of the officers who had been lying on the ground was now conscious and aiming his gun towards her.  
"Okay dude, my hands are up, and all I've done is help protect your men."  
"You're dressed in black just like them, I don't trust you-"  
"Hold up" a voice groaned.  
Sam and the officer turned to see that another younger officer had awoken and was now carefully sitting up on the ground. "State your code" he demanded.  
"SAP3 sir" Sam responded.  
The man's eyes widened a bit as he then looked up at her. "You're free to go."  
"Thank you sir, I was never here." Sam then turned around and once again her eyes changed colors as she dashed off in the direction that the car chase was heading towards. She wasn't sure exactly who that officer was, but there were connections everywhere and obviously he knew of her code name, so hopefully she was safe for now.

As Sam ran at the highest speed her legs could carry her, she noticed things in the road that gave her an idea of how the fight had gone so far. The first thing she noticed was that there were a bunch of manhole covers lying about in the road, so she assumed that one of the many new launchers that had been installed had officially been tested out. A smile grew on her face under her surgical mask as she ran by some smashed up vehicles that she assumed were used by the Foot (they must have gotten on using a different exit since she had never seen them on any of her devices earlier on) but this expression quickly turned into one of slight irritation as she ran under a small bridge and saw what she assumed were smashed and broken up pieces of the giant nunchuks that were a recent addition built from Donnie. Oh well, he had a million other things he wanted to fix up, both for the truck and in general, so it would be a decently long while before Mikey got to use those again.

Sam was now close enough that she had the turtle's truck in her sights, but just as she was catching up she saw the motorcycles that were way farther ahead now turn around and start driving back towards the turtles. She saw a few of the soldiers reach behind their backs and she soon recognized the orange lights that appeared as their hands returned in front of them. She didn't have time to warm the guys since she was now reaching into her side pouches and was throwing shuriken stars with the best aim she could give them as the speed she was throwing them. She had hit the arms of most of the soldiers, resulting in either the bombs dropping or exploding far enough away that it didn't affect the truck, but there was one star that missed and that soldier was able to place his bomb near the front of the truck. Sam grew furious as she saw the truck jump upwards as the bomb went off and blue flames surrounded the wheels. Seconds after the truck had been hit, multiple soldiers on bikes then began speeding on their way back towards where she was running.  
_"Now it's my turn to have some fun" _Sam thought as she glared at the oncoming cyclists while simultaneously reaching for her tonfa in the side pockets of her backpack. She gripped the handles and extended the weapon as the first motorcyclist came by with a katana in hand. She used her weapon to block the soldier from harming her as he swung towards her head. A few more soldiers came by and all four were swinging their blades at Sam, but her moves were quicker. As one soldier drove by, Sam used her right tonfa to block the man's blade and angled her body in a way so that as she took a step forward it also allowed her to swing her left arm around and use that tonfa to hook around his neck as she then pulled through with that moving force to knock the man off his bike. The man rolled backwards but then quickly got to his feet. He revealed that he was wearing a type of tekko and Sam was able to sense that this battle was now leading towards hand to hand combat. The man charged at Sam and the two began sparring. The man started jabbing at Sam, but by spinning the handle of her tonfa, she was able to block the blades from the man's tekko each time he jabbed. Sam kept backing up as she blocked attacks so that as the man charged forward he would continue to do so at a constant and ongoing speed, and this is what threw him off guard when Sam then quickly swiveled so that her right foot stayed planted but her body then turned so that for a split second her back was towards the man, her right tonfa spinning the entire time, and then as the man continued moving forward for that split second of time, Sam then stopped the tonfa once he was about to pass her as she then jabbed the forehead of the right tonfa into his side. Sam then swung her right elbow forward and up and then straight back so that it connected with the man's chin and then right after, with her right foot still planted in its same spot, she then swung her body to the right with her foot planted as she brought her knee up and kneed the man in the stomach, and as he stumbled back, Sam then spun and leaped up so that as she came back down she landed a final kick to the man's forehead, knocking him unconscious as he now lay on the road.

In the midst of this fight, Sam had forgotten that there were three additional soldiers chasing after her not long ago. Her questions were solved as she looked up at Raph who at some point must have come barreling out of the truck and was now knocking soldiers over left and right. She assumed that the soldiers had turned around and were more focused on defeating him as he barreled through the multiple other soldiers in front of them, but now it was their turn to meet their maker. Sam smirked as she dashed to the side and started gunning for the truck as she watched Raph roll forward and bounce back up off the ground from his shell and swing his arms outwards as they slammed two soldiers off their bikes and onto the ground. She then turned her head as she ran to see Raph leap back up onto the final bike and smash his head onto that of the bikers as the soldier went flying off his motorcycle. Sam turned back around and leaped up into the truck and got over to the side in seconds just before Raphael had ridden the motorcycle up and then jumped off of it and into the truck himself.  
He stood up and brushed off his soldiers. "Anything else I can do for ya?" he asked in a playfully cocky tone, resulting in chuckles from Mikey.  
Raph then turned towards the girl who was now removing herself from the wall. "Nice of you to finally join us" he said raising his brows with a smirk.  
"My invitation got lost in the mail" she said with a taunting voice and expression.  
"How are the officers?" Leo asked as he turned around in his seat.  
"I didn't sense any serious external injuries. Hopefully they're all okay" Sam replied with a sincere smile.

Just then, a helicopter flew over top of their truck. Sam stepped forward so that she was standing behind and between where Leo and Donnie were seated. Now that she was up close she could see that there were still a few motorcycles driving behind the police van and that there were two soldiers who were on top the van who were using some type of saw to cut into the top of the van. Just then the helicopter flew over them and was now hovering over top of the police van. Using long chained cables, a large round piece was lowered from the helicopter and was then placed onto the top of the police van by the two soldiers.  
"What is that thing?" Leo asked as his face scrunched up.  
"It's a big ass magnet" Donnie replied with wide eyes.  
Maybe this cussing thing was becoming a new thing for Donnie since it seemed like it was happening more often than ever before as of late, though Sam would lie if she said she didn't like it.  
The magnet then pulled upwards, and it pulled the van along with it as the back side raised into the air. Finally it pulled the top cut section from the van off and the vehicle slammed back down onto the ground. A separate cable was then lowered into the back of this open section as the soldiers on the sides leaped down onto the bikes of the trailing soldiers, and seconds after they left the scene, Shredder was being pulled up and out of the van.  
"He's getting away!" Donnie shouted.  
Sam thought quickly. "No he's not, Leo press the red sword button!"  
Leo checked quickly and figured out which button to press as he slammed his fist down onto the large red button. This led to a mechanical bar appearing in front of their truck which then launched a katana blade up towards the cable, slicing into it so that Shredder fell straight down. He wasn't able to catch his balance and bounced off the back of the truck, just grabbing onto the back in time so that he didn't come crashing down onto the road.  
"Donnie did you ever finish adding the net gun? Because I think now might be a good time to test it out" Sam stated.  
Just after she said this, Shredder pulled himself up and was now standing on top of the police van, and seconds after that a man went flying out the passenger door and was rolling down the road.  
"Okay now I really think it's a good time to test it out" Sam said.  
"Alright Mikey," Donnie started, "remember that game I set up for you? This machine will be set up the same way."  
"Hehe, awesome" Mikey said with an excited smile.  
"Okay, it's all you Mikey!" Donnie said as he turned and nodded towards his younger brother to signal that now was the time.  
"Time to shine" Mikey said as he sat in place and rubbed his hands together.  
Donnie pulled back a yellow lever and Mikey's chair was lifted upwards…only to make him bash his head into the ceiling over and over again as he said 'ow' each time.  
"I'm sorry! It's stuck!" Donnie called out.  
Sam nudged Don's shoulder. "Pull it all the way back and then forward, remember?"  
Donnie pulled the lever all the way back until he heard a click and then pushed it forward. "Ah there it is" he said with a content smile, ignoring that his brother just hit head on the ceiling like four times in a row.  
Apparently Mikey had forgotten this as well as his seat was launched into the air and was now riding on top of the truck, the wind whipping past him as the sped along the highway in trying to get closer to the police van.  
"Whoaaaa this is awesome!" Mikey shouted while throwing his fist in the air.  
Sam couldn't help but look up and smile at him through the opening in the ceiling. This was a dire situation, and yet somehow this dork knew how to calm himself (in the sense of not being overly worried and stressed that is) in even the most serious of situations.  
"Lock on you idiot!" Raph bellowed from the back of the truck.  
"Oh, right!" Mikey said as he now went into focus mode and looked through the eye piece of the device to try and lock in on where Shredder was.  
"Mikey! Make sure you aim for where he's going to jump and NOT ON SHREDDER HIMSELF!" Donnie shouted for his younger brother to hear.  
"Right! Got it!"  
"Alright Donnie, you got to get Mikey closer" Leo stated.  
Without hesitation, Donnie pulled back a switch that launched the truck forward and at incredible speed, which also lead to Leo and Donnie being thrown backwards into their seats, Raph being thrown against the back of the truck, and then Sam being thrown back and sliding down the back aisle some. Once Raph was able to get ahold of his footing, he stepped forward and helped Sam stand back up.  
"You good?" he asked.  
"My butt hurts" she said as she rubbed her lower backside. Nothing was seriously hurt, but she had landed pretty hard on her bottom.  
Raph pursed his lips. "Great, good to know" he said as he nudged her.  
"I'm fine, thanks red" she said with a laugh. Messing with Raph was just to fun, especially since he still teased her with almost every free moment that he had, or at least it seemed that way.  
"Guys, Shredder looks like he's about to jump" Donnie announced, not realizing that whenever he got nervous he was leaning so far forward that he was leaning over and past the steering wheel.  
"One shot it all you got" Leo announced. Shredder then took a few steps and leaped to his left. "TAKE THE SHOT MIKEY!"

Mikey took one final look through the eye piece and then pressed the button as a net shot through the tube and launched right towards where Shredder was jumping. The net should have caught him, but missed due to a huge blue light appearing and sucking Shredder into it just before the net could reach. The light swallowed up Shredder and disappeared, and the net dropped down to the ground. Donnie brought the truck to a halt, everyone inside just sitting there with their jaws dropped. Raph had moved his way up so that he was crouched between Leo and Donnie, Sam was standing right behind Raph, and Mikey's seat was brought back inside so that now he was sitting in the middle of the inside of the truck. Each of the five just sat there in silence until Leo finally voiced what each of them was thinking.  
"Where'd he go?" He then turned back towards Sam, wondering if any of her past Foot activity could explain what it was they all had just seen, but Sam just shook her head in response.  
"Of the short time that I worked for the Foot, I never saw anything like that. D, please tell me you somehow got footage of that."  
Donnie nodded his head, still facing forward in shock. "My shoulder cam is always running and should have picked up everything. We need to get back to the lair quick. Someone call April so that we can update her and see if she read anything about this in those emails of Stockman's."  
"Oh! I'll do it!" Mikey shouted as he shot his hand in the air like he was asking a teacher to call on him.  
"I'll do it" Raph growled as he turned back to glare at his brother.  
Mikey pouted, but accepted.

Donnie then quickly drove around to pick up any loose materials he could find (the manhole covers, the katana, the net) and then quickly took an exit that would lead back to the secret passage they had exited the sewers from earlier on.  
In the meantime, Sam went back to where Mikey was sitting to nerd out about the new devices he had tested out.  
"Still the best sharp shooter in New York" she said as she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed.  
"Yeah right, I missed the shot" Mikey said as he leaned forward, his face cupped in his hands which were now resting on his crouched up knees.  
"Only because 'who the hell knows what' appeared and swallowed Shredder whole, I wish for good. None of us expected that, so no one could have avoided it. Without that randomness then you totally would have trapped Shredder dude."  
Mikey started to smile at this comment and began to cheer up. "Well, I did max out each of my previous high scores whenever I tested out the demos" he said in a playfully cocky tone.  
"That's because your skills are dope man!"  
"Hell yeah! No one tops M.C. Mikey!" he shouted as he pulled his friend in for daps and a bro hug.  
"Sorry April, I can't hear you over the dorks in the back" Rah groaned out loud from his spot up front behind and between Donnie and Leo.  
Sam squinted her eyes at him as she cupped her mouth and shouted "Whoa Raph what's up with these pics of April on your phone!" Of course this was made up, Sam had no idea what was on anyone's phone but Mikey's, but it lead Raph to do what she hoped he would.  
In his instant anger (and embarrassment even though there were no pictures of April on his phone) Raph threw his shell cell towards Sam rather violently. Sam had planned this however and caught the device, and then kindly handed it to Michelangelo. "And this is for you" she said in sweet voice, knowing that Mikey gushing to April and miserably failing at flirting would piss Raph off even more.  
"April! Heyyyy angel cakes, how'd your mission go today? Tell me allllllll about it!" he started as he walked further towards the back of the truck with the phone.  
"Hey Sam" Raph called from the front.  
"Hmmmm?" she hummed, her chin in her right hand and her left arm crossed against her stomach, making the expression just to mess with the angered turtle even more.  
"You should take me out to dinner."  
"Why so?"  
"I'd like to eat before you fuck me" he announced in an irritated manner.  
"Huh, I didn't take you for that type of guy" she said, tilting her head to the side.  
"What?"  
"I thought you'd just cut to the chase."  
"What is wrong with you two?" Leo asked, trying to remember how the conversation lead to this.  
"Years of being lied to and not knowing the truth and then that affecting me in a variety of ways" Sam stated, nodding her head at her nonchalant response.  
"Heh, yet you throw out lies like saying I have pictures that don't exist on my phone" he said, jabbing his finger into the girl's forehead as he stood up to walk past her.  
"I gave her food for thought…hey, there's your dinner" she said, squinting her eyes up at him.  
"Pshh, you couldn't handle me" he said in attempts to mess with her…and yet Sam was fighting her damned best not to laugh.  
"Why are you laughing?" he asked, pausing his steps from walking towards the back of the truck.  
Sam rapidly shook her head. "I'm not."  
"Yeah you are."  
"Nope."  
"Sam!"  
"Oh go beat up your brother already" she said, waving the turtle away. She would never admit it, but seeing Raph in a sexual sense just made her laugh. It wasn't just him, comments like this from any of the three older brothers would have her reacting this way. It wasn't that they didn't have sex appeal (she'd be a liar if she said there weren't traits about all four of them as individuals that she actually found quite attractive) but the older three never flirted or anything, so hearing them talk sexually or anything close was so out of character that it was rather comical to her.  
"Heh, with pleasure." Raph cracked his knuckles and made his way towards the back of the truck.

Around this time, Donnie was now entering the secret passage way and the group was entering the sewers. The truck was parked and before anyone could say anything, Donnie was already rushing over towards his collage of computer screens right outside his lab and was hooking up wires and devices and clicking away on his keyboard.  
Around the same time, April was now just arriving herself and entering from where the living room was. Mikey, of course, was the first to greet her with a hug and a smile, rushing over to her like he had forgotten about everything else that had just happened. April had grown accustomed to this greeting and accepted it whole heartedly each time, not wanting to hurt the turtle's feelings. She knew that he knew that no relationship would ever occur between the two, but she also knew that Mikey was still the flirt that he was and still loved the woman as family, so she knew the hugs were friendly and harmless.  
Raph had now walked over to join these two. "Soooo, I don't know what you heard earlier-"  
"Oh, you mean about the pictures?" April said, teasing the now embarrassed 6'5 turtle standing in front of her as she smirked up at him.  
"Uhhh that was just Sam being an idiot again" Raph said, rubbing the back of his head.  
April nodded her head for Raph to look behind him, and as he did so he saw Sam who had been walking now pause in place and shoot him a 'wtf' type expression.  
"Well that's what you get when you screw me over" he said, pointing at Sam with his brows furrowed.  
Sam then paused. "…screw me over…fuck me over…ohhhh take me to dinner before you fuck me over HA now I get it, that's funny" she said as she pointed at him and continued to walk so that she was now standing next to Leo who was also standing behind Donnie.  
"I heard that through the phone to" April said, hiding her smile behind her hand as she pretended to be itching under her nose.  
"That one is her fault! She pisses me off and then I say oddly comfortable insults and shit."  
"The pictures are your fault though" Mikey teased.  
"There are no pictures!" Raph shot back, glaring at his brother.  
"Of April at least" Mikey smirked with a devilish grin.  
"Oh? So who is on your phone then?" April chimed in, bearing a similar expression to Michelangelo's.  
"Uhhhh no one. Just knitting ideas for the Hashi" Raph said with a slight blush.  
"Scarlet. Johansson." Mikey said, moving his hands in front of his face and then outwards, like he was seeing through something. And then of course this lead to more playful arguments between the two as April continued to laugh at them both.

Sam watched this and smiled off from afar. At this point in her friendship she was used to being the second best. If she and Mikey were hanging out then he would usually sprint over to April whenever she entered the room and he would start bombarding her with a million different questions before April could even say hello. If Mikey had already been talking to April, then Sam would purposefully enter the lair through an entrance where she wouldn't be seen and would go talk to another one of the brothers first and would talk to Mikey later, that way he could continue talking to April without doing anything to accidentally show that he was upset that the conversation had to end. He had let this slip once and Sam mentally never forgot it, and honestly it made her feel like shit for a variety of reasons, so she made sure to follow this routine each time so that she would never have to experience that again. She would never admit this to Mikey though because she knew it would upset him, so this was all a secret that she kept to herself. She knew that Mikey flirted (or attempted to do so in his ways) with April all the time, but he had heart to heart conversations and nerded out with Sam, so it didn't bother her that Mikey always wanted to gain attention from April. Plus she knew that April was gorgeous, so any man would obviously want to talk to the gorgeous older woman compared to the nerdy tomboy who wore form fitting comfy clothes 24/7 and who did things like secretly hold burping contests with her best friend when no one else was around. That and Sam had now grown a lot closer to other male figures in her life ever since she learned of her brothers past with the Foot. Now that she knew the truth, she was able to hang out with so many friends that she had lost touch with, unknowingly because of their own personal reasons for being forced into the Foot clan. Now that all of that was over, she was able to rekindle and even start new friendships, including her bond with Kris from years ago. All in all, she was used to seeing Mikey wanting to be close to April, but she also accepted this and understood this, and this was part of the reason as to why she was now standing closer to Leo and Donnie. Sam also cared about April very much and vice versa, but for Mikey's sake, Sam kept her distance from the older woman when her friend was surrounding her.

While Sam was letting these thoughts swirl around in her mind, Leo was playing the protective older brother towards Sam as the two stood back some and watched as Donnie went to town on finding good quality video footage of what they all saw earlier on the highway.  
"Were you seen?" Leo asked calmly.  
"Seen I was, in trouble I'm not."  
Leo quickly turned towards her. "What does that mean?"  
"So one of the unconscious soldiers woke up and got all freaked out since I was dressed in black, even though I was helping keep his men safe from harm, but another soldier woke up and asked for my code name."  
"Code name?" Leo asked, scrunching his face in confusion.  
"Yeah. Rebel soldiers had code names we used to communicate with each other. Mine was SAP3. Jay's was JAP5. I said my code and the dude told me to go. I'm not sure if I ever actually met him or not, but the police might know some of the codes from some of the top fighters. Honestly I'm not sure how he knew exactly, but when I stated my code name he acted like he recognized it personally. Either way, I'm sure he explained to the older officer about the significance of the code and I'll be fine" Sam said with a shrug of her shoulders.  
"*sigh* Sam you need to be a lot more careful" Leo huffed.  
"What are you talking about? I just said the officer let me off the hook."  
"And what if he didn't? What if he didn't know you personally, or he didn't have any info given to him from the NYFS? You could have been in big trouble getting caught like that."  
Sam pursed her lips together. "Yeah, I guess so. I'll be more careful from now on, okay?" she said with a small apologetic smile.  
"How are you feeling?" Leo asked in a serious yet softer voice.  
Sam shot him a muddled look. "What do you mean? Like if I got hurt during the chase?"  
"Well that to, but more so about…" he paused as his eyes were now aimed at the ground to the side. Sam had an idea she knew what Leo was talking about, and the pause was because he felt defeated and that this was his fault.  
"Leo, are you worried about me because Shredder may be free now?"  
Leo closed his eyes and then opened them as he looked back up at the girl next to him. "I just don't want you to feel like you're being forced into any of this."  
"Dude what are you talking about?" Sam said, taken aback with a confused smile. "Why wouldn't I want updates about this?"  
"Sam, he tortured you, and in more ways than one. I don't want you helping us if it's going to hurt you anymore than what he's already done to you" Leo said in a forcefully strict tone. It sounded like she was being ridiculed, but this was how Leo showed protection towards others.  
Sam softened her expression some. "I spent years cowering in fear and being afraid of this guy, but for once I actually felt the will to fight back against him. As long as I'm with you guys, I still feel that want to fight back, and by working together we can try to get ahead of him. Working as a team is what will keep me strong, pushing me away and making me watch by myself from the sidelines, that's what will lead me to panic and lose myself again."  
Leo sighed and went to speak, but was cut off by Donatello.  
"Then you need to listen to us and work with us as a team. No sneaky business, got it?" he said, pausing his typing so that he could turn his head to face her.  
"No sneaky business, I promise" Sam said with a genuine smile.  
"So what do we know so far?" April asked as she walked over with Raph and Mikey so that now everyone was basically standing around Donnie. Leo was now standing next to Donnie on his right, Raph was standing behind them, April was standing to Donnie's left, and Mikey was standing to April's left. Sam just kind of hung in the back since she was the shortest and couldn't see anything at the moment.  
"The only thing I know so is that he just disappeared after he took the jump" Donnie stated.  
"So, he just vanished?" April questioned.  
"I'm trying to run the video from my shoulder cam through an electrostatic filter so that we might be able to see what happened to Shredder."  
"Come on, show me something buddy" Leo said softly, trying to motivate his brainy brother.  
Donnie then pulled up the video of Shredder making the jump and paused it as Shredder was being grabbed by something within the blue light.  
"Look! Right there!" Donnie announced as he pointed towards the image. "Sam come here!"  
Sam had gone back and was laying down on the raised round area in between where Donnie's monitors and the living room were. She couldn't see overtop all her taller friends, so she had decided to just hang back and relax until she had been called just now. She maneuvered herself so that she didn't touch any of the burning candles along the ledges of the raised area as she got down and then walked over towards the monitors. Mikey had been kind enough to step to the side so that Sam was now standing on April's left with Mikey right behind the two women.  
"None of this rings a bell at all?" Donnie asked, taking a few seconds to look over at his friend after asking the question, though the shocked and questioning look on the girl's face was all the answer he truly needed.  
"I've never seen anything like this" she said lightly as she slowly shook her head. "Any idea what this even is?"  
Donnie was now looking back at the screen as he tried to analyze what he saw as best he could.  
"It appears to be some kind of residue from a teleportation event."  
"Yeah teleportation even residue man, it's the worst" Mikey stated, a grin on his face. Sam then mimicked the expression as she lightly nudged him, signaling that now wasn't the best time for such jokes, regardless of how funny they were to her.  
"Does that type of technology even exist?" Raph asked rather sternly.  
"Baxter Stockman has been working on this type of tech for years" Donnie replied with a shrug.  
April then turned towards Donnie, a determined look in her eyes. "All of that stuff that I pulled off of Baxter's iPad, it was full of information about Shredder and the Foot clan like it was a virtual playbook. Baxter has to have a backup somewhere and I bet it's on the mainframe of TCRI."  
April then took a step back as if she was about to start pacing as she thought of what to do, but just as fast it seemed that she had already thought up a plan in her head.  
"Donnie, I need something. What do you got?"  
At this point all the others were watching Donnie (except for Mikey, who had now taken a few steps back and was now swinging his nunchuks to keep him occupied as he had lost concentration during the conversation) as he rummaged around through a box he had picked up off his desk.  
"I know exactly what you need…" he said as he continued to look through the box. He then pulled out a rather thick flash drive as a smile and wave of confidence swarmed over him as he handed the device to April. "Totally plug and play."**  
**"Perfect" the woman replied as she took the flash drive from the brainy turtle, "I'll go check it out." April then began to walk away towards the further exit near the kitchen.  
"We'll go with and operate support" Leo added as he turned to follow April. Donnie and Raph instinctively did the same, and Mikey followed once Sam nudged him and he realized that everyone else was about to leave the room.

"Wait" April said, coming to a halt and turning to face the group behind her. As she faced them, Leo was on her right with Donnie next to him, then Raph, and then Mikey on her far left. Sam had already taken a few extra steps and out of curiosity as to what was about to be said, she turned around and was now standing on April's left (in front of Raph and Mikey) as her body faced the turtles while her face was looking at the woman next to her. Sam then opened her mouth a bit as she sighed and tilted her head to the side some as she realized what April was about to say.  
"Sun's coming up," the older woman said, "you can't go outside, you'll be seen."  
The two women then watched as the four turtles displayed similar reactions to what Sam just had.  
Leo, attempting to react as mature as possible even though he was extremely frustrated at this current moment, tried not to roll his eyes (failing at trying not to) as he looked up towards his left, trying his best to hide from April how frustrated he was at this comment. It wasn't her fault that they couldn't be seen, so he didn't want to upset her, though his expression made it clear how annoyed he truly was. He was also extremely frustrated with the fact that they wouldn't have to worry about not being able to go up onto the surface at this moment if he had just lead his team to capturing Shredder like he should have, as he now began to mentally blame himself for putting his family and April in this overall situation.  
Donnie just pursed his lips and nodded before slightly turning his head to the side, succeeding in concealing how frustrated he was. He quickly tried to process a way that they could all go up to the surface together and try to gain information on locating and capturing Shredder, but each thought lead to the same conclusions of his family being discovered and getting in trouble in multiple deadly ways, hence why he turned away in order to prevent April from seeing his troubled and defeated expression from her comment.  
Raph and Mikey on the other hand made it known how upset they were after hearing this comment. Mikey rolled his eyes quietly as he then looked off in the distance to his right, whereas Raph sighed out loud and he rolled his eyes and looked off in the same direction.

April pursed her lips as she looked at the four teens in front of her. She so badly wished there was something she could do where she could protect them and allow them to continue on with their hunt for Shredder, but sadly any solution to these thoughts were completely out of her control. She formed a small smile as she tried to gently motivate them.  
"Don't worry, it'll be 6p.m. and starting to get dark before you know it. I'll get as much information as I can and then we can work together and catch Shredder and figure out what's going on with Stockman. Just hang tight, okay?"  
To make their friend feel better, all four turtles looked at her and nodded with a small smile.  
"Go kick ass" Raph said with a genuine smile, all his brothers and Sam nodding with the same expression.  
"Contact us immediately if you need anything" Donnie reassured.  
"Will do" April replied, turning back to make her leave.  
"Stay hidden and stay safe" Leo then called after her.  
"Like always" April said, lifting her hand up for a wave as her back was to the group as she walked away.  
"We have snacks in case you get hungry angel cakes!" Mikey called out to the woman. For this April had to pause and turn towards the group as she couldn't conceal her laughing smile. Finally, before anyone else could speak, she exited the lair.

Once the group could sense she was gone, the four turtles went back to displaying their distressed mannerisms.  
Sam hated seeing her family like this and tried her best to cheer them up.  
"Guys, you know that Shredder can't really do anything within a day right? I'm sure Donnie can calculate the odds that he could only possibly do so much when he just got escaped from prison with barely anything of a clan to go back to."  
"It's a solid 50/50" Donnie mumbled.  
"Well, then that just means that within the time you have, you should get amped up and get ready to take him down. While he's…wherever the heck he even is, I'm sure he'll be planning his next move, but we're all going to be ten steps ahead of him. You guys got this" Sam said, giving two thumbs up to the group with a serious expression on her face.  
While all four of the guys appreciated her enthusiasm, they were still slightly bothered with the fact that they couldn't all act on finding Stockman and Shredder while they had the upper hand at this very moment. Because of this, each one decided to follow through with Sam's statement and do something that would help keep their minds focused.  
With a small smile, Raph patted the girl's shoulder as he walked past her and towards the circular opening near the dojo that held various weights and other exercise equipment.  
Leo did the exact same thing as he walked past Sam and back towards his room in the corner of the lair near the kitchen so that he could go meditate in peace.  
Donnie then took a step forward. "I'll be working on the truck if you need me" he said with a nod before turning to his left and then down the small steps towards the truck.  
Sam then looked over at Mikey who was staring off into space, lost in his thoughts. She then stood next to him and looked off in the same direction.  
"What are we looking at?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders.  
Mikey sighed. "Just thinking."  
Sam rested her head on his shoulder. "Sorry about tonight."  
"What do you mean?"  
"What happened at the arena, since it would be such a big deal getting caught. And then not being allowed to join in the parade, and then hearing that you can't go after Shredder now. It upsets me too."  
Mikey then formed a small smile as he turned his head towards the smaller one leaning on his shoulder.  
"Ehhh it's no big deal. With you around, I know we'll eventually find a better spot, and you'll help us kick Shredder's ass when the time comes. And the parade was one of the most awesome experiences of my life, but it was missing something, so it wasn't perfect anyway."  
Sam then took a step to the side so that she could look at her friend and see his face. "What was is missing?"  
"A best friend to share the moment with" he said facing her with a big smile on his face.  
Now that she sensed her friend was feeling better, this also meant it was time to tease.  
"Ohhhh, to have A BEST FRIEND, so no one specific huh? That's cool, I get it" she said with her hands up as she went to walk away.  
"Oh shut up!" Mikey exclaimed as he threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in, resulting in laughs and smiles from the girl, "gosh you're so emotional" he said in a mocking tone. "Wanna go play videogames Donnie set up so that I can practice my aim and shooting skills?"  
"Lead the way" Sam said, gesturing her arm outwards for her friend to take the lead.  
And with that, the two went on their way so that they could prepare and keep themselves alert and focused for when the time would come for them to act on chasing after Shredder later that night.

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!  
So I'd like to announce now that sadly I have never actually been to New York, so I honestly made up street names.**

**Also I was watching the film and I love scenes where you really have to listen carefully to truly hear everything that is being said. I needed earphones on my laptop to be able to hear what Donnie is saying about the wires and the seats and I found it hilarious, but it was interesting because I had never heard any of that when I watched it on the television because it always sounded so muffled, so for the longest time I thought it was literally nothing but mumbles and I was shocked when I realized that if you listen closely you can actually hear what he's saying while he's tinkering around as the truck is moving. **

**Also I'm really sorry with how slow these updates are, and then how short the chapters are as they come along with the updates. I really hoped to have had a lot more content up by now, but life doesn't always allow things to go the way you want them to. But I hope that to anyone who is still reading that you're still enjoying what you've read so far and that you're still interested in joining me for the ride that these characters will continue on with. And to those who have left feedback in any way, (views, comments, etc.) thank you all so very much for the support **

**Before I forget, I'd also like to write something short in memory of Jonghyun of Shinee. Although I don't know a whole lot about Shinee, I've generally heard a lot about them in the k-pop community. I also learned something interesting through a memorial video made about him. The first ever k-pop video I ever saw was of a special stage where multiple men from different SM boy groups (Super Junior, 2AM, 2PM, Shinee, and maybe more) dressed up as the members of SNSD and sang and danced to GEE back when it was first coming out. I knew the names of everyone in the video eventually later on in life, but there were only a few where I had actually listened to them and their groups. In a memorial video for Jonghyun there was a scene from this video, meaning that I was recently reminded that Jonghyun was in the very video that lead me to become a k-pop fan. I just found that to be so incredible that someone lead me onto such an incredible journey into the k-pop world, which has then changed my life in so many positive ways, and every day he had no idea that he had done something so inspirational. And this is just one side story, this man touched people's lives every day and has incredible amounts of loving and dedicated fans. As I said before, sadly I don't know a whole lot about Shinee just yet, but this group was on a huge list I have of groups that I eventually wanted to learn about (i.e. right now I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the group EXO) and it makes me so sad to know that I was too late in learning about this group and meeting this singer. As a general k-pop fan I believe that times like these should open everyone's eyes and make the realize that we should all be supporting each other and that people need to stop posting such hateful comments. All the time I read about posts that bash celebrities over such trivial and ridiculous things and it hurts to read about things like this. **

**Jonghyun, I wish I could have learned and gotten to know you so much more before you passed, but I hope you are resting peacefully now. You will never be forgotten, and forever more people will continue to learn about you and think back to you, including myself. Rest peacefully now 3  
**


	4. Chapter 31

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you.**

****Chapter #31

***June 6****th****, 2015*  
*Later into the next day after April has left. The lair around the afternoon.***

****The guys liked to spend some time by themselves, especially when they were in a bit of a rough mood, but what truly and officially cheered them up was when they were all hanging out together. All families have their moments where they wanted to be surrounded by their loved ones and then other moments where they just wanted some down time alone, and the turtles family was the exact same way. After April had left it was about 3a.m. The sun wouldn't be coming up until a couple hours later, but the turtles knew that there was a good chance they wouldn't be back home by that time and that many people throughout the city would be waking up to head to work around 5a.m. or even earlier depending on what their hours were for their jobs, so leaving at 3 in the morning was still a pretty risky move. At that time everyone had gone off to do their own thing. Everyone had lasted until about 5a.m. By that time, Leo had decided to end his meditation and had fallen asleep since he was already in his room, Raph had been exercising and then eventually went back to his room to shower and then collapsed onto his bed where he fell asleep, Donnie had eventually reached his limit since he had gotten even less sleep the night before and so after working on the truck for a couple of hours he decided to head into his lab as he also collapsed onto the bed he had within his work space, and after Mikey and Sam had been testing out some video games, the two decided to relax some and took some new comic books up to where the hammocks were located in the upper large circular opening near the dojo and the two camped out there until they both eventually fell asleep in their own individual hammocks. Raph was the first one to wake up around 8a.m. later that morning. 3 hours felt like plenty of sleep for him, so once he woke up he headed to the kitchen with one of his sports magazines as he read about basketball stats from that season. Leo woke up about an hour later, and the two oldest were ridiculously excited to try and play pranks on the two that were sound asleep up in the hammocks. They would have woken Donnie, but they knew that he barely EVER got any sleep EVER because he was always sow wrapped up with his projects, so they thought it was more important to let him get this needed sleep. Leo and Raph then silently went into Mikey's room where they knew he had a crap ton of packs of mini balloons and filled them with water, and around 9:30a.m. the two oldest brothers set it up so that they were able to launch about 50 water balloons at the two that were sleeping…and then this lead to an all-out war as Mikey then rushed to his room and provided himself and Sam with toilet paper cannons (aka leaf blowers with toilet paper in them that Sam had prepared forever ago because she was freaking amazing and was the best teammate for prank wars, words by Michelangelo himself). By 9:40a.m. Donnie had woken up and secretly took pictures of the events as they continued to unfold because it was just too hilarious for him not to create evidence of these events and then find a way to use them to his advantage at some point down the road. Of course he was attacked once Sam spotted him, and a few minutes later the group thought they heard Master Splinter stirring and quickly realized that if they didn't clean up their mess that they'd be screwed. Sensei was all about having fun, but he was not a fan of ridiculously large messes. Knowing this, the group got to work and by 10a.m. the lair looked the same as before the prank war had begun. The group then decided to have breakfast since they were all wide awake by this time anyway and hung out with each other for the next hour. By 11a.m. the group was sort of hanging out with each other, but also wandering around and doing their own thing at the same time.

Donnie and Raph were both in a mood where they didn't feel like doing much and would rather be around others rather than isolating themselves, so they both hung around and talked to the others in the room. Raph had found an old wiffle bat and Donnie threw the balls from the kitchen as Raph tried to see how high he could hit them from across the room since the ceiling above was incredibly high up. Mikey was now antsy and needed to move around, so he found one of Donnie's drones and set it to a mode where it would follow him around and nudge him as a way of 'attacking' him. Sam was still a little groggy from being woken up by being bombarded by water balloons and then rushing into a prank war moments after, so she just hung back by herself and sat where the chairs were.  
It was then 11:15a.m. when Donnie had stood up from where he was sitting along the edge of the eatery so that he could walk over to the fridge and get a Japanese juice box and in the process had spotted Sam writing on one of the duller colored chairs in the kitchen behind him.  
Donnie chuckled as he lifted his foot and lightly nudged the girl as he walked by her.  
"Stop writing on all of our chairs. That's the second one you've detailed so far" he said with a smile as he walked over and then opened up the fridge.  
Sam looked over at him with a comical expression. "Says the guy who has literally written all along the walls of his bedroom."  
"Hey! Those writings are for science!" Donnie playfully exclaimed as he shut the fridge and walked back over towards where the girl was sitting on the floor in front of her kitchen chair.  
"Well I'm experimenting with these writings to see if they can prevent boredom" Sam stated as she looked up at him with a mocking smile.  
Donnie read over her writing and the creatively drawn squiggles around it. "Guest, sit here."  
"It's a personal matter, very touchy subject. It goes back to a time in my life when I didn't know that a chair was a place to sit" she said as she looked up at him.  
"Very original, tons of details" Donnie replied, lightly ruffing the girls hair as he walked by and took a seat.  
"Great, that's just fantastic" Raph grumbled as he paced back and forth on the walkway across from the eatery, just as Mikey had zoomed by and was playing around as the drone was still chasing after him.  
"You guys paint graffiti on the walls all the time, learn to share!" Sam jokingly barked at him.  
"Not that" Raph mumbled as he rolled his eyes, but staying alert enough to hit the ball that Donnie threw at him as it soared up towards the pipes above.  
"Then what's your malfunction now?" Sam asked as she stood up and walked across the small bridge over the water below.  
"My issue is that every second we're down here, Shredder becomes more powerful, and Mikey gets more annoying."  
"Hey I heard that!" Mikey called out as he knocked the drone away from him and then zoomed under a pipe and into the other room.  
"Oh come on Raph!" Donnie exclaimed, getting comfy in his seat, "we're training!" Donnie then through another wiffle ball at Raph, who then sent it flying high in the air once again. "Well, sort of."  
"Oh! Donnie I have an idea!" Sam exclaimed as she walked over and pushed Rah over towards the side, messing with these guys was just too fun. "Throw me the ball, but not yet, but you'll know when to throw the ball, okay?"  
"Uhhhh-"  
"With crap instructions like that, not even a genius like Donnie can follow along" Raph said, rolling his eyes.  
"You're just jealous because you know I'm going to do something amazing, as always" she said as she rubbed her knuckle against her shirt.  
"Whatever." Raph took a seat along the open chairs in the aisle way.  
"Mikey! Watch this, you'll regret it if you don't" Sam called out to him.  
Mikey then kicked the drone in a way that turned it off and then sat along one of the pipes that was higher up in the air. He shot his friend two thumbs up to signal that he was ready and paying attention.  
"Ready Donnie?" Sam asked as she now faced her friend from over the bridge.  
"I'm going to give it a shot."  
"Kame" Sam cupped her hands together in front of her, "Hame" she kept her hands together as she pulled her arms back against her left side, Donnie had quickly understood what was happening and now threw the ball, "HA!" Sam threw her arms forward while her hands were still cupped together and her eyes shone blue for a couple seconds as she used her wind powers to launch the ball way up into the ceiling.  
"Whooo that was amazing!" Mikey shouted as he rocketed his way back down to the ground and stood next to his best friend.  
"Who has two thumbs and makes waiting around super fun? It's meeee!" Sam said throwing her arms up into the air.  
"As amazing as that was" Raph started in a mocking tone, hiding the fact that he actually thought that was really cool, "it's not what we should be doing right now. Shredder is free and doing who knows what and we're playing around down here!" he bellowed.  
"Don't worry Raph, Shredder can only do so much in a day with the small leftovers of his clan. He will piddle around trying to get things done, but he won't get very far because as soon as the suns goes down, it's turtle time" Donnie said right before taking another sip of his juice box.

Sam walked over to the fridge, got a juice box for her and for Donnie (knowing he would want another one once he finished the one he had) and then walked back over to the table where she plopped down in a chair next to Donnie. She smiled as she handed him the extra juice box and chuckled as the turtle looked like a child receiving candy as he excitedly took the drink.  
Sam sensed movement from across the room and turned her head to see Splinter leaving his new room and join his oldest son who was sitting by himself in the living room.  
"Hey, is Sensei enjoying the new living arrangements?" Sam asked, looking back at Donnie. Raph was now occupied with kicking a soccer ball he found at Mikey, who was 'training' by dodging the ball as he zoomed around high up in the air on his skateboard.  
"Oh he loves it. He has plenty more space now, and because of that he's finding more things he can collect, just like he did at the old lair" Donnie replied.  
Sam chuckled as she shook her head. "I still can't believe you stayed up all night for like, how many days was it again?"  
"4 nights and 3 full days" he replied with pride.  
"I can't believe you spent 3 full days testing all the walls all throughout the lair." Sam then leaned back in her chair, joining her friend in kicking her legs up and resting them on the rail in front of her, since the eatery was raised up above where the water from the water slide was.  
"Well ever since you and Mikey found that enormous space that you guys decked out about a year ago, I kept wondering what else was hiding down here."  
"I mean hey, the search was obviously worth it. You found a new and more spacious bedroom for you, and then that lead to you creating a better bedroom for your dad, and now Jay and I have our own mini bedroom and same for April. Is Leo still okay with sharing his side of the lair?"  
Throughout his search, Donnie had found an open space that was close by to Leo's room, and then on the wall perpendicular to that room there was another small space that stretched out and reached over towards where the water slide was. This smaller space had become a spare bedroom that visitors like Jay and Brenda were allowed to use, and Splinter's old bedroom within the raised pipe had also become a spare bedroom that was usually occupied by April when she visited. In order for all these new changes to be made and to work out, it meant that Leo had to allow Donnie to occupy the bedroom that was right next to his, meaning that he was no longer separated by all three of his younger brothers anymore.  
"Nah, Leo doesn't mind. More than anything he would have made the change because it would mean better sleeping arrangements for Sensei, but he also told me that he didn't mind as much because it was me who would be sleeping in the room next to him. He wouldn't have been as okay if he had to have Raph or Mikey nearby. He knows that I'm as tidy as he is, so he didn't see it as a big deal. That and he and I usually don't butt heads as much. I mean we ALL annoy each other at times, but he and I don't argue as much as we do with others in our family. "  
"Heh, I still just find it funny how these spaces have been right under your noses and you guys never knew about them."  
"Well there was a lot going on before you came along. I mean now it's been almost 2 full years since our first encounter with Shredder, so we've all had a lot more time to wander around and explore what is around our home, but back when you met us we had just finished up with moving things around."  
Sam nodded her head. "That's right. You guys said that Shredder attacked in August of 13, and I was allowed in the lair in…May of 14 I believe. So that only gave you about 8 to 9 months to find a new home."  
"And scavenge for anything that we could move from the old lair to the new one, and make sure that we had a reliable power source, and to make sure we could get running water, AND set up security measures so that no one could track us."  
"So basically you had a million things to do, and your brothers just moved furniture?" Sam asked with a teasing smile.  
"Because I had a million things I didn't move or lift a thing" Donnie laughed.  
"Huh, so because of the short amount of time and because of how busy you were, you had no idea that there were extra spaces all throughout where your new home was located. But it was my discovery, meaning it was me coming along and joining the group that lead you to the idea to look for even more open space in your new lair. I guess you can just add that to the list of reasons why you love me! Haha, am I right?" Sam joked as she kept nudging her friend in the side.  
"Ehhhh" Donnie shrugged, "you're alright."  
"Dude, just admit you love me and that I'm the greatest thing ever" Sam said in a serious tone, though still teasing her friend.  
"Cocky much?"  
"Hehe, you said 'much'" Sam giggled, her hands covering her mouth.  
"Oh grow up" Donnie groaned with a smile as he leaned his foot over and kicked the girl's legs down and off the rail in front of them.  
Sam leaned forward and placed her hands on her knees. "You know I can totally kick your ass now right? My mutagen overpowers yours!"  
"No balls" Donnie said to provoke his friend, tilting his head forward and looking over his glasses at her.  
Sam nodded her head as she spoke. "Well I'd hope not, I'm kind of a girl."  
Donnie let out a quick laugh before pursing his lips together and looking away, not being able to prevent himself from laughing at his friend's childish comments.  
"Regardless, you still won't do it" he said, sitting with his hands on his knees, copying the way his friend was sitting.  
Sam sensed this and tilted her head forward so that if she wore glasses then she would be looking over them the same way Donnie was looking over his.  
"You're right, I'm to kind to kick your ass, so I'll use you for target practice instead."  
Just then, Sam lunged to the side and snatched 5 of the wiffle balls that were still in a pile that had been next to Donnie from when he was throwing them to Raph earlier on, and started chasing after the tallest turtle who had already leapt over the rail and was running across the lair.  
Donnie had first run backwards and then towards his right so that he was now rushing towards the circular openings that lead into the dojo. Sam fired a wiffle ball towards him at an incredible speed, her eyes lighting up as she activated her powers when throwing the balls. Donnie was quicker though as he leaped and swung himself upwards into the higher opening, and as his feet touched the concrete of the upper level opening, he jumped to the side just in time to dodge another ball that was thrown at him. As Sam started running over towards the circular openings, Donnie flipped over her, dodging the third ball thrown at him. He then darted towards where his lab was while Sam dashed over to the kitchen and then leaped over the rail so that she was now standing in the middle of the room on the raised pipe. She had gotten to her position just a split second before Donnie had gotten to his, so she launched a ball at him, just missing her target by a split second side step he took at the last second. Sam jumped down and was getting ready to aim as Donnie sprinted around the room. He paused for a moment and was lightly bouncing on his feet, trying to calculate which route was the best to take and when he should take it.

A devilish grin grew on his face as he finally began to make his move. He ran so that it looked like he was going to run straight across the lair on the further side, but instead of leaping over the raised pipe to continue his run towards the other side of the room, he slid and literally entered the pipe through the small entry way that lead down and underneath the space. Sam would have come close to a solid hit if Donnie had run across the lair and over the raised pipe like she had predicted, but she had not thought of him actually entering the pipe, and because of this miscalculation, she had already thrown the ball and it went sailing across the room…and into the living room…where it would have almost hit the back of Leo's head if it weren't for Splinter catching the ball with his tail.  
Sam was frozen solid as she just stood there with Splinter and Leo both looking at her from the living room with questioning looks on their faces. Sam knew that she had to say something or else…well honestly she had no idea what would result from this situation, but she felt that it would be worse if she just continued to stand there and do nothing.  
She slowly started to walk over towards where the other two were sitting, rubbing her hand behind her head as she did so.  
"Heyyyy guys. Sorry, I've just been trying to get Leo's attention for hours now and I ran out of ideas in how to do so, hehehe…heh."  
"Ah, so beaming a ball towards the back of my head was the solution to your problems. I'll make sure to remember that in the future" Leo stated with a small grin on his face.  
Splinter smiled and stood up. "Well Samantha, if whatever you need to say to my son is of such importance, I will leave you two to discuss this matter."  
Sam's eyes went wide a bit. "Pshh, you don't need to do that Sensei" she said as she waved her hand in front of her.  
"Oh no I insist" Splinter said with a grin. "It's probably time I go check on my other sons to make sure they are not destroying anything now anyways" the old rat teased as he exited the living room area and made his way across the lair towards the kitchen where the others were now all sitting.  
As soon as he knew that Leo and Sam couldn't see his face, Splinter couldn't help himself from forming a large smile on his face. It always amused him how there were times where his sons seemed really down in the dumps for various reasons, but somehow Sam's words and actions would quickly start to cheer them up. The whole time Splinter had been talking to Leo he continued to display a defeated and dismayed expression, but once Sam came over acting silly, Leo was already grinning because of the girl's antics. He wondered whether it was because Sam was able to provide a woman's perspective and if this had anything to do with it, or if being a fellow teenager helped her in being able to communicate and understand the boys better than he could as their father, or if her comical tomboy ways allowed them all to feel more comfortable around her than those who were more mature like himself and April, the reasons were endless. Overall, Splinter was just happy that there was another person that could help cheer his sons up in ways that he couldn't, and as their father he would always be forever grateful for that.

Once the two were alone, Sam sat down on the couch while Leo continued to sit in the round chair that was placed next to the couch. Sam quickly noticed that once Splinter had left the room, Leo's expression switched back to a depressed and defeated look.  
"Okay, what are you so pissed off about now?"  
He raised his eyes at her. "Starting with a question, that's odd. You know, since you're the one who's been trying to get my attention for hours now."  
"Yes, and for hours I've been trying to ask you what's making you so upset" Sam said as she crossed her arms.  
"Just reflecting on what happened on the highway." Leo looked off in the distance, the image of Shredder making his leap and escaping through the portal haunting his memory as it continued to play on rewind in his mind.  
Sam's expression switched to a sympathetic one. She made sure to speak gently as she talked to him. "Leo, you guys are the most skilled ninjas and overall the most skilled fighters I've ever met. When you four work together, you can do anything. And you literally have done some of the most amazing things I've ever seen. You defeated Shredder twice now, and I know that you're going to stop him again."  
"And what if we don't? What if what happened tonight continues to happen and we aren't able to stop him? What if I'm not able to lead the team and they realize that they can't depend on me?" Leo said, a strict tone mixed with a panicked one revealing itself in his speech.  
Sam shot him a quizzical look. "Leo, who are you trying to fool by talking like that? That doesn't sound like you at all. You're one of the most confident people I have ever met, so where is all this doubt coming from?"  
"*sigh* I just don't want to mess things up. Whenever others are in danger I usually begin to panic, and it's worse if it's my family that's in danger. I'm usually good at masking my worry, but knowing that Shredder got away from us so easily is just…giving me this feeling that something terrible is about to happen. Just prepping myself for the worst I guess-"  
"Well stop" Sam said, slightly raising her voice. "The only thing that's going to fail your family is you giving up on yourself like this and losing your focus. If you do everything in your power to protect them, then they'll have your back as well, and when you're all working together like that then you guys are able to kick major ass, I've seen in firsthand. You need to stop doubting your leadership and abilities because of one thing that literally no one could control happened. If the random portal had not appeared then Shredder would be back behind bars right now. No one could have predicted what happened, and right now you have the chance to calm your mind and prepare for what's to come so that you guys can be ten steps ahead of Shredder and what little remains of his clan" Sam said, lifting her fists in front of her in a confident congratulatory way.  
This mini speech did knock some sense into Leo, and he found it ironic how some parts of what Sam had said matched up with what Splinter had just said minutes before she appeared.  
"Thanks for reality check Sam. Maybe I'll call the guys together for a quick training session so that we can be on our feet and ready for whatever new tricks Shredder has waiting for us."  
"Now that sounds like Leo!" Sam stated as she pat her friend on the shoulder.  
"Hey, speaking of failing your family" Leo said as he pulled out his shell cell, "aren't you supposed to be somewhere helping your family right now?" he asked, playfully raising a brow at her and smiling.  
Sam's response was one of utter confusion. "I have no idea what you're talking about dude."  
"It's 12p.m. Sam."  
"So you can read a digital clock, I'm very proud of you Leo, well done" she teased.  
Leo rolled his eyes. "What important family event is coming up in a few more weeks Sam?" he asked with a groan.  
"I'm assuming you mean the wedding and OH MY GOD I HAVE A REHEARSAL BRUNCH I'M SUPPOSED TO BE ATTENDING SOON!"  
Sam leaped off the couch and sprinted out of the lair. "Thanks Leo! I owe you one!"  
Leo shook his head as he chuckled to himself. It would always amuse him how Sam had her moments where she was as quick and witty as Donnie, yet she had just as many moments where she was a bit ditzy just like Mikey. It was definitely always an interesting time when Sam was around. Leo then stood up and stretched, preparing himself for the backlash he was about to receive as he told his brothers that it was time to get off their lazy butts and that now was the time to actually train and prepare themselves for what might come next from Stockman and Shredder.

**So I've done the best I can to analyze the layout of the lair from Out of the Shadows because in my story I wanted the lair to mimic what is seen from the film because that's where my story is taking place, right before and now currently during the scenes of the film. Since this is a fanfiction story, my layout is different in multiple ways, but there are more similarities than differences in my story. One of the most noticeable differences is the bedroom layout. There are open spaces between the living room and Donnie's lab in the film and since these areas are never given a specific purpose, I took advantage of this and used the middle opening as a pathway that lead to actual bedrooms for Mikey and Raph, and the opening on the right of this right by Donnie's lab, I turned this into a bedroom for Donnie (now for Splinter since I moved Donnie's bedroom). What I find hilarious is that I did this originally because I could only figure out where Leo's bedroom was after watching bonus features and doing the best to watch scenes of the film on You Tube. I now FINALLY set up the film and have access to it through iTunes (I've had the code to do so for what seems like forever now) and as I watch different scenes AND look back to bonus features, I now realize that literally all four of their beds are in the top corner of the lair near the kitchen area. Like I was mind blown by this. I've seen this movie god knows how many times, and I literally just learned that all their beds are basically all right next to each other. I feel silly for just realizing this, but at the same time the film doesn't do the best job at making specific parts of the lair's layout known…then again I'm also that weird nerd that would analyze every aspect of their home. Like I LOVE to go in depth and go behind the scenes of films and I nerd out ten times more when it's a film that I really enjoy. But I have to have everything down to the tiniest detail because I'm that person where everything has to make sense and everything has to be perfect. Hopefully the oddly specific details that I include help set the scene as you read through the story and hopefully it helps you easily picture where everything is and should be. **

**Hope you guys are enjoying the story, and criticisms and words of advice are always appreciated **


	5. Chapter 32

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you.**

****Chapter #32

***June 6****th****, 2015-Saturday***

****Sam checked her phone and saw that she was entering the church right at 12:29p.m.  
_"Phew! Literally made it just in time" _Sam thought to herself as she quickly pushed the door open and ran to the front of a line of bridesmaids and groomsmen that she saw lining up just as they were about to enter the church. She attempted to act casual, but she realized that she failed as she was nudged from behind.  
"Wrong spot smarts" the young Asian woman now behind her said with a smirk. "I see arriving late boggles your mind."  
Sam shot her a playful and questioning look. "What are you talking about? I'm the first…oh, right, hehe" Sam said with a nervous smile as she realized that the first bridesmaid in line would have to enter the church last in the group so that she arrived right before the bride herself. She then quickly walked to the back of the line.  
"Well someone just made the cut off" came a familiar voice. Sam turned to the groomsman next to her and smiled at her childhood friend Kris. She playfully waved him away.  
"I was just being fashionably late, I would never forget about this."  
Kris chuckled softly as the practice began and the groomsmen all walked in together, talked to the priest and the groom about what they would do before the ceremony began, and then it was time for the bridesmaids to walk in one at a time.  
As Sam entered the nave and walked down the aisle and past all the pews, she walked by all her and Jay's friends who were there to help make sure all errands were run, decorations were set up, etc. She felt a bit awkward for some reason. She had performed in front of huge crowds before, but for some reason walking down the aisle for the wedding left butterflies in her stomach. It was probably because everyone was going to see her all dolled up in make-up and in a dress. This made her extremely uncomfortable, she was a tomboy after all. She was used to form fitting and flexible jeans, leggings, jeggings, track pants, and running shorts that almost reached down to her knees. She was used to loose but form fitting sweaters, graphic tees, sporty t-shirts, and colorful sweatshirts and hoodies. She was used to Converse, Adidas Samba's, and running shoes. She never wore 'girly' clothes, but Jay and Brenda were more important to her than her discomfort in wearing feminine clothes and attire, so she would bear with it.

The practice was held, and then it was held a couple more times, and then it was time to move on to the next event on the list of things that needed to be covered that day in preparation for the wedding. Jay and Brenda circulated throughout the room and talked to whoever they needed to about whatever was next on the list, and everyone else who was not needed was free to move around and talk to the rest of their friends.  
Sam hopped down the steps leading up to the alter like the child that she was (it was difficult at times to believe that she was actually 17 now) and looked up when she heard a familiar voice walk up and talk to her.  
"You're the one who is actually in the wedding, and yet I'm the one that arrived first" April said with her hands on her hips.  
Sam pursed her lips and looked up at the woman in front of her. "Well, I may have gotten caught up in a few…interesting events this morning, hehe."  
April rolled her eyes. "Prank war awakening again?"  
Sam nodded her head with a huge smile. "Mikey and I were victorious against the oldest two thanks to my toilet paper launchers."  
April shook her head and laughed, but then switched back to a more serious look.  
"So I talked to Irma earlier before I headed here and she gave me the contact info for a hacker who's ex rebel Foot. He hacked in and got me the access codes to Baxter's lab at the main TCRI building downtown."  
Sam's brows rose. "Well look at you getting things done. How come you didn't ask Donnie though?"  
April then expressed a face of sorrow. "I felt horrible reminding them they couldn't go above ground because they might not make it back in time before the sun came up. I had a feeling he would just want to be alone and do his own thing for a while, so I thought I'd leave him be this one time. Please don't tell him or else he'll get super offended. Just like that time I had an electrician come over because the one switch in my apartment stopped working."  
The two women groaned as they remembered how Donnie reacted to April asking someone else for help when it came to malfunctioning tech.  
"Trust me, no one wants to visit that side of Donnie again, your secret is safe with me. And honestly it was a smart decision, all four of them wandered and did their own thing for a couple hours or so after you left. When are you heading to Stockman's lab?"  
"Don't worry, I'll contact Leo first. I took off for a few hours this morning to help Brenda out, but then I have to get back to work later. I'm heading downtown to TCRI later tonight. I'll make sure the guys know of my whereabouts, or else they'll all freak out."  
"And I would to!" Sam announced. "You've come a long way in your training, but you still scare me O'Neil" Sam stated, looking the woman up and down, like a cop looking over a suspicious subject.  
"Yes, I know Sam. Thank you for worrying about me, even though you get into ten times crazier messes" she said as she rolled her eyes. April then caught Brenda excitedly waving her over, so she waved bye to Sam and headed over towards Brenda.

Sam then wandered around some herself since she knew everyone that was here. After a few minutes she then somehow ended up in a circle on the floor with all of her friends from the rebel Foot, well, except for three extra faces that had only been around for about a year now. The 5K group of Kris, Key, Kyle, Kevin, and Ken were in the group. Then there was the triplets Thomas, Clay, and Grace. Brianna and her older brother Brad were next, then Amanda and her older sister Sarah, then the twin blondes Kate and Becca, then the look alike cousins of Nathan and Aaron, then Jillian Amante and her older cousin Ashley Kurtzman, then Angel and her older brother Ryan, and then Sofia or Shadow Jones, Lindsay Baker, Joshua Stockman, Tara, Lotus, and Tyler.

There were three new faces in this group though. Ryan and Angel, the brother and sister that were mixed with black and white parents, had two cousins. The older one was named Nova and had been a part of the Foot clan after being convinced to join in order to protect her younger sister from ever having to. Because of this, their cousin who was the same age as Angel, named Vanessa, had never been forced to join and was allowed to remain safe at home.  
This was the same situation for Tyler Winters and his family. The tan skinned boy with black hair had both an older sister and a year younger sister. His older sister was Andrea and his younger was Skylar. Andrea had been forced into the Foot since their father, Max Winters, owned a huge company that could easily be taken advantage of and the business man's children could easily be used as bargaining tools to gain money and other tools. However, once information got back to Shredder that Tyler was a skilled athlete, he decided to make a bargain that he would take Andrea and Tyler as soldiers and would leave the family business alone. To save their father and everything he had built, they agreed, but only if Shredder promised that he would never force their sister Skylar into the clan. To this Shredder agreed, and Skylar Winters was never touched by the clan.  
The third person outside of the rebel Foot group was a girl with long black hair named Emma. She had an older brother named Elijah, and though he also had never joined the Foot, he had been a weasel and supplied information and materials to the rebel Foot when members were allowed to leave the main headquarters building. No one knew where he ever got this information from, but he had helped them succeed in escaping, so he was never questioned. No one really knew a whole lot about Elijah's background, but he had helped them on multiple occasions and in the end he had become friends with everyone, so he was now a group regular. The only thing they all knew was that his and Emma's parents were very strict and overprotective. Because of this, Emma had been sheltered and watched over constantly by her parents, hence why she had absolutely nothing to do with the Foot or even helping fight back against them.  
Everyone had to be careful when these three teen girls were around. They knew about the Foot and that everyone in the room was ex Foot members, but they didn't know about all the secrets that came along with it: the mutagen, the mutants, or the mutagenic powers that Sam now had. Because of this, people had to watch what they said when these three girls were in the room.

Knowing this, Sam waited until she could finally talk to Jillian and Lindsay alone to gain some intel on the Mutanimals. Eventually she gained her moment to wave the two women over and then asked her questions.  
"Hey, how have things been?" Sam asked, crossing her arms across her chest. Jillian Amante and Lindsay Baker had been working with the mutants since their first mutation day back at headquarters, and they were some of the very few people who went underground and helped care for and work with the Mutanimals as they lived in hiding, along with Professor Jordon Perry that was.  
Jillian was the first to talk. "From what we've been told everything is going well. Professor Perry has been traveling with them in the truck and according to my brother's update earlier, everyone arrived and settled in at the Amante and Kurtzman cabins in the outskirts of the city a couple hours ago. If and when Shredder returns, it's going to be awhile before he finds them, especially since the professor has already started setting up security measures. How are the turtles doing?"  
Sam sighed and swung her hands some, a look of hurt displayed on her face.  
"They're getting by. Leo took it the hardest that they didn't catch Shredder last night, but overall they were all mostly upset since they can't go above ground to hunt him down now" she replied with a sad nod of her head.  
Jillian formed a similar expression. "I hadn't thought of that."  
Sam flashed her a small grin. "Don't worry about them though, they're all tough. Once they're focused on something then they'll work their asses off until they follow through. They just needed some down time to get their mojo back, and when I left the lair they were all a lot better…well, except Leo."  
Now Lindsay added in. "Tell your boy in blue not to worry just yet. According to Jade, Shredder hasn't made a noticeable reappearance yet, so there's still time to act before Shredder does."  
Lindsay's older sister, Jade Baker, was a police officer and the right hand woman to the chief of the police department, Rebecca Vincent. Jade was one of the few who was not actually a member of the clan, but because her younger sister had been captured and kidnapped, she worked day and night towards finding ways to communicate and help her, and now she was an advocate for the NYFS organization.  
"Hey Lotus," Lindsay called out, waving the young Japanese woman over, "you're still in communication with friends who escaped from the Tokyo branch, right?"  
"That's correct. Why?"  
"Have they heard anything about Shredder reappearing in Japan?"  
Lotus shook her head. "None of them have said anything, and there's a lot of people who are on the lookout for him in fear that he'll find them and force them back in. People in branches throughout the world and even other criminals who had connections with him are on the lookout in fear that he'll come for them, but so far no one has heard anything anywhere. It's still freaky, not knowing when he'll appear or where."  
From where Sam was standing, she could see the goosebumps on the back of Lotus's neck as she spoke. Sam put a hand on her friends shoulder.  
"Don't worry. You're safe here. No one is going to force you to go back to Japan, and everyone in this room is going to make sure you're safe."  
Lotus had lost her mother and father years back when her family was trying to run away from the Foot clan. Her parents were killed by Shredder himself when she was about 5 years old, and as a young child she was forced into the Foot clan. Now that she was free to live and do as she pleased, she feared that this freedom would be stolen away from her once again now that Shredder was free. She one day hoped to safely head back to Japan in hopes of finding a woman named Miwa. According to her mother, Lotus had a half-sister named Miwa from her mother's first marriage before her husband, Hamato Yoshi, was slain by Shredder's brother, Oroku Nagi, because he was also in love with her mother. Lotus's mother had no idea what ever happened to her first daughter, but Lotus always hoped that one day she could go back and find her. Right now those hopes were beginning to fade, but with the support of her friends, Lotus was fighting her best to continue keeping her hopes held high.  
Lotus looked back at Sam and patted her hand. "Thanks Sam, I'm glad I was moved to New York and found all of you guys."

The sentimental moment was interrupted as Brenda clapped her hands and announced that it was time to move to the next room. The church had a large open room towards the back of the building and this was going to be used for the reception later on after the wedding itself was over. Because Jay and Brenda were the upbeat and outgoing couple that they were, they wanted to perform some type of rehearsed dance routine with all their closest friends, aka everyone that was here today. The dance was more so for fun and humor than anything else, but the couple still wanted the humor and fun to be coordinated and planned.  
The dance started with a number performed by everyone in the wedding party, then it switched to all the adults, then to all the teens, then to all the men, then to all the women, then there were small routines that were performed by each individual family group, and the last performance involved all the groups as whole coming together for a grand finale.

The dance rehearsals alone took a few hours, so April had to leave once they finished, but Sam ended up staying at the church with the rest of the large group as more errands were run, decorations were set up, and the entire day of the wedding was put into a full run through. There was also a planned brunch that took place, but everyone had stayed so late that they all went out to dinner together at the mall as well and hung out there for a couple of hours. Sam made sure to keep checking her phone every so often in case the turtles needed her for anything important, and around 9p.m. she received a message from Mikey stating: _Hey Sam! We met up with April and now we're all heading back to the lair. She found some cool looking stuff that Donnie gets to look at in his nerd lab. Meet up with us soon if you can!"  
_And with that, Sam said farewell to her friends and headed for the nearest alley with a manhole cover lurking in the shadows.

***9:20p.m., a tunnel not far from the lair***

****She didn't know how to explain it, but Sam had this feeling that something wasn't right. She had this feeling that someone in the lair was in serious trouble, and for an even stranger reason she felt that it was Sensei who was being attacked. Worry suddenly began to build and without realizing it Sam was now sprinting towards the lair. That's when she saw him. She was running towards and was now passing through the entry way right by the kitchen as she saw the back of a man with very short thin hair standing alone and in front of the turtle's truck. He was holding a hockey stick and a hockey mask as he continued to face the truck. Sam had no idea who this man was, but even without the evidence she just assumed that this was the man who was going to attack Splinter, and because of this she continued to sprint over towards the man. Seeing the hint of blue appear in the reflection of the yellow truck, the man turned around just in time to see the teenage girl run up and slam her arm against his chest and have him slide back and collide against the truck.  
Luckily, Splinter had been sitting at the eatery and had whipped his tail forward and wrapped it around Sam. She still landed her arm against Casey's chest, but it didn't push him back anywhere near as forcefully as it would have if she had followed through with the attack and had not been pulled backwards. Splinter held Sam in the air as she wriggled and squirmed like crazy in the grasp. She hadn't even seen Splinter as she dashed into the room, and now she didn't realize that it was he who was trapping her. She continued to squirm violently until Splinter sensed Leo sprinting over. Sam was dropped once Leo was standing under where she was being held in the air, and as soon as Sam's feet hit the ground once again, Leo swung his arms around her and held her tightly while she continued to squirm.  
Splinter ran over towards Casey to make sure that he wasn't seriously injured as Leo tried to talk down Sam.  
"Sam! Where's your head at?" Leo exclaimed to the girl in front of him.  
"Splinter's in trouble! Someone's hurting him!" Sam shouted.  
Now the others were running into the room as well.  
"Sam, Splinter is fine! You're the only one hurting anyone!" Leo called out.  
"Sam the new guy is our friend!" Mikey shouted as he ran up to where Sam and Leo were standing. He then put his hands on Sam's shoulders. "Everyone is safe, just calm down."  
Mikey then looked back at Casey who was being tended to by April and Splinter. "Man, things are just not going your way today, are they Casey Jones?" he teased.  
Sam's head shot up and finally she had remained still. "Jones? As in Shadow and Jaxon Jones's cousins Casey Jones?" she asked.  
"Who?" Leo asked.  
"Ugh, yeah. They're my cousins. Who's asking?" Casey groaned as he was able to regain his balance and stood back up as Splinter and April helping him walk up the stairs.  
"I was just with them earlier today. They're my friends." The colors were now fading from Sam's eyes as she continued to stand still. Mikey nodded to Leo and the two turtles removed their hands and took a step back, testing to see if Sam had officially calmed down.  
"Sam's your name huh? You Jay's sister?" Casey asked.  
"Who's asking?" Raph snarled.  
"Hey, it's fine" Sam cut in. "He's an ally, specifically he's a police officer who is also an advocate for the NYFS. My brother has mentioned his name before, and he's relayed information to Jaxon and Shadow in order to help fallen Foot members." Sam then turned to face Casey. "It's nice to meet you" she said as she nervously put her hand forward.  
Casey was hesitant, not sure what to do after what he had just seen from the girl.  
Sam pursed her lips together. "Sorry, I can…sort of explain what just happened, but honestly I don't even know myself."  
Casey could detect the guilt in the way the girl talked and sensed that she hadn't meant to attack him the way she just had, and because of this he smiled as he extended his hand and shook the opposite hand in front of him.  
"It's fine, I can't imagine what you've been through that leads you to do that."  
Sam smiled. "Long story, but I can explain that another day."  
"I want to know how you knew Sensei was in trouble" Donnie cut in, "you weren't even here when that happened."  
"When what happened?"  
Casey cut in. "When these two tricked me into attacking their dad who then slammed me into the ground" Casey announced in frustration as he rapidly pointed his finger bath and forth between Raph and Mikey, who then looked off in the distance like they had no idea what was going on.  
Sam turned towards the two and tilted her head in annoyance. "Seriously? We find an ally and you guys are already bullying him?"  
"Hey, it's not my fault he's gullible. He should have been prepared for anything" Raph said with a smirk.  
"Now listen-" Casey started, only to have Sam hold her hand up to silence him.  
"Raph, say fort" Sam stated.  
Raph gave her an odd look, but did as he was told. "Fort."  
"Now say it three times."  
The large turtle rolled his eyes, already knowing this trick. "Fort, fort, fort."  
"Now what do you eat soup with?"  
Raph crossed his arms across his chest. "Haha, you want me to say fork but I know you eat-"  
Within a second, Sam's eyes went blue as she swung her arm forward towards Raph's chest and then down, shoving him into the floor where he was standing. She used enough force to knock Raph off his feet, but not too much that it would hurt him. This would only leave him winded for a minute or so and then he would be fine.  
"Huh, I thought you would have been more prepared for that" Sam said with a devilish smile as Raph glared back up at her.  
Splinter shook his head with a smile as he exited the room. April and Donnie chuckled as Leo rolled his eyes. "Sam's back to normal" the oldest mumbled.  
"Whoa that was awesome!" Mikey exclaimed with his arms in the air.  
Casey had been standing there with his jaw dropped in awe, but Mikey's exclamation confused him.  
"Wait, aren't you next?"  
"HA! No! This ass kicking woman is my best friend!" he said as he threw his arm around Sam.  
She nodded in response. "That's right, I couldn't hurt him even if I wanted to."  
"Heck yeah!" Mikey then put his hand up for a high five, only for Sam to miss and 'accidentally' high five his face.  
"Dude!"  
"Hehe, my bad. Guess I can hurt you, but not on purpose."  
Mikey shot her a playful glare before turning to walk towards the fridge and get a can of Orange Crush from the fridge, and in doing so, missing Sam turn towards Casey and wink at him to signal that that was the best Mikey was going to get as punishment for his actions. As Sam turned to follow Mikey, she saw that Donnie was holding a dart with a purple liquid in it.  
"Oh Donatello, what is that?" Sam said, quickly walking up and invading Donnie's personal space as she tried to put her face up to the purple ooze.  
Donnie smiled as he gently pushed the girl away from him and created a small gap between them.  
"April, do you mind telling Sam everything you told us earlier?"  
April nodded. "So I gained access to Baxter's lab. When I got there, I saw that Shredder was there to." April paused when she saw Sam close her eyes for a few seconds, processing the news she was just given.  
"Okay, then what?" Sam asked, opening her eyes.  
"So he had those two criminals with him from the night he escaped, Bebop and Rocksteady, and injected them with the purple ooze that Donnie is holding now."  
"Wait, ooze? As in mutagen?" Sam asked, her eyes widening.  
April nodded her head. "Yeah…"  
"Where did he get it?" Sam asked frantically.  
"Um, I'm not sure exactly. He said that someone named commander Krang gave it to him, but he never said who Krang was. He just jumped into talking about the three pieces he needed to open a portal for Krang so that-"  
"Wait what?! A portal to what?!" Sam exclaimed, eyes wide and an expression of fear on her face. "What the hell happened when Shredder disappeared for like, not even a full freaking day!?"  
"Ohhh it gets better" Raph grunted, walking back over and joining the conversation.  
"Shredder tested the mutagen out on those two criminals with him, and it turned one into a rhinoceros and one into a warthog" April stated.

Sam stood there in stunned silence. Multiple questions were racing through her head right now and she didn't even know where to begin, so words just started spilling out of her mouth.  
"Great, so we stopped him from creating a mutant army and we rescue all the mutants, and now he gains a brand new mutagen that allows him to do the exact same thing! I mean what the hell, where did he even get this new mutagen? We obtained and hid everything he had, so how did he-"  
"Wait, what?" Leo cut in sternly. "What do you mean it's hidden?"  
Sam turned towards him. "Our rebels had been smuggling all the mutagen they could get their hands on away from headquarters before the final night, and by the time the clan fell, every canister was relocated to a safe spot underground. A lot of people know this, but a very small select few know where the location is, mainly just Professor Perry and some of his assistants that worked with him in his lab during his time in the clan. But I just talked to a few of those few people today and they never reported anything going missing, and we would know by now if something was missing."  
Donnie's eyes widened as he realized what this meant. "Then that means, this Krang that Shredder met after being sucked into the portal on the highway, he had to have given this new mutagen to Shredder. There's a good chance that Krang has been his supplier in secret all along."  
"Ughhhh" Sam groaned as she put her hands behind her head. "This sucks. It's like we're starting back over at square on all over again."  
"There has to be something we can do" April cut in, not wanting everyone to feel defeated when the battle was just starting.  
"There is" Donnie stated, a smile of confidence on his lips. "I'm going to try and pin point a singular isotopic signature from this needle so that I can track our newly made mutant's location. You and Sam know how to use enough of my tech to listen in and to search for any information of Shredder's whereabouts."  
"I might be able to get some information" Casey added. All eyes were on him, waiting for him to explain,  
"I know a guy who works for the NYFS. He studies stuff like this."  
"And what exactly is 'stuff like this'?" Raph asked roughly.  
"Well we're talking about portals and mutagen and things that everyday people know nothing about, right? He looks into the real details. Like, when Shredder escaped, the news stated that the camera glitched and that's why the viewers saw the blue light, but he digs deeper and learns what really happens. He might have some information on what's going on."  
"So what about the rest of us?" Leo asked.  
Donnie shrugged. "Right now there's not much we can do until we track the location of one of our multiple bad guys. There's four of us working on that right now, so everyone else…be alert and ready to leave at any moment to apprehend our enemies."  
Leo and Raph looked at each other and shrugged, they weren't going to complain.  
"Holler if you need anything" Raph commented as he started heading towards his room on the opposite side of the lair.  
"Same here" Leo stated, turning around heading towards his bedroom.  
Casey pulled his phone out and walked over back towards the eatery so that he could make his phone call, and April walked over towards Donnie's many computers where she began using the monitors that Donnie had taught her about and started listening in to police scanners on some and searching for recent articles on others.  
Donnie followed April and then went back inside his lab to start working with the mutagen that he had.  
This just left the two best friends who then turned towards each other.  
"So I guess this means no comic books, huh?" Mikey asked.  
Sam couldn't help but laugh. "Unfortunately not, well not for me at least. What you do next depends on whether you're in a detective and curious mood, or if you're in an antsy and energetic one."  
Mikey crossed his arms across his chest and let his chin rest on one of his knuckles as he contemplated what he had just been told.  
"I CAN be in a detective mood, but it can't be super boring."  
"Hmmm, how about you go undercover on social media. You know, casually ask around if people saw what happened on the night Shredder escaped, act like a clueless teen and see if leads to anything interesting."  
"Now that is something that I am great at!" Mikey said, snapping his fingers and pointing at his friend in excitement since he could actually do something to help.  
"Using social media? Or being clueless?" Sam teased.  
"Social media! Wanna know what else I'm great at?"  
"What?"  
"This" Mikey said as he ruffled and messed up the girls hair.  
Sam just stood there and stared blankly at him. "I work hard to look good" she pouted.  
"Psh, lies! You literally wake up, brush your hair, and leave the house."  
"Okay you do realize I do other things to, right?"  
"Yeah you brush your teeth and stuff, but you don't accessorize" he said, wiggling his fingers in front of his face for dramatic effect.  
"Yes, and now my hair looks even worse than my original 'woke up like this' look. My soul hurts."  
"Ohhh your soul is fine!" Mikey said as he threw his arm around the girl's shoulder. "Now, to the couch for detectiving!"  
Sam chuckled as she walked over to the living room with her friend and they both plopped down on the couch.  
Just then, Casey walked out from the eatery. "I was able to get in touch with my source. Can someone lead me out of here so that I can go above ground and meet with him in person?"  
"I'll take you" April announced. "Sam?" she asked as she turned around towards the girl in the living room.  
Sam looked up from her phone at the two adults. "Don't worry, I'll check all the scanners in a little bit. I'm just going to make a couple calls to my own personal sources about something that just dawned on me first."  
"Alright good stuff. Make sure someone calls me if something important comes up" April replied, pointing her finger back and forth between Sam and Mikey.  
"Don't worry, I got your back" Mikey said, showing the o.k. sign with his fingers, which Sam then copied and signaled the same thing. With that, the two adults left the room.

"So who are you calling?" Mikey asked as leaned back against the couch and kicked his feet up on the pizza box coffee table in front of him.  
"I don't know why it didn't dawn on me earlier, but I know two of Stockman's relatives. Cousins to be exact" Sam replied as she sat down in a way so that her back laid on Mikey's left arm as she kicked her feet up on the other side of the couch.  
"Wait, what?" Mikey asked nervously.  
"Don't worry, they're good guys. They're both ex Foot."  
"Wait, if he knows what his cousins experienced in the Foot clan, then why would he team up with Shredder?" he asked in angered confusion.  
"From what I know, Baxter has always been jealous of his older brother Dexter. Because of this, he will do whatever it takes to work with the tech he needs to follow through with whatever ideas he comes up with. His cousins told me they warned him over and over again not to work with the Foot clan and that they will turn on him, but he's so caught up in his pride of one day being better than his brother that he tuned out what everyone told him about the clan. He even cut ties with people like Professor Perry, someone he went to university with, because he knew the professor would try to talk him out of his decision to work for the Foot clan."  
The frustration in Mikey's voice was evident as he spoke. "That's…disturbing, and selfish, and idiotic, and-"  
Mikey paused when he felt Sam grab his arm. She paused, still looking down at her device, but not moving. She was testing to see if he was okay, and her touch had made him realize how dark his voice sounded. He calmed himself, and Sam removed her hand once she could sense this.  
"A lot of us feel the same way" Sam said, breaking the silence. "But we're going to stop him before he can go berserk and continue to make decisions he will regret down the road."

With that, the two got to work. Sam called her friend Joshua Stockman and then called his older brother, Cameron Stockman, only to learn that neither currently knew of their brother's whereabouts. They gave her the number to contact their older cousin Dexter Stockman…only to discover that he also knew nothing about his brother. The only information she had gained through these three phone calls was that they were all worried about their relative, and that none of them could do anything to get Baxter to return home and keep away from the Foot clan. Sam sighed and stood up from the couch.  
"Hey, you good?" Mikey asked.  
Sam swung her arms and stretched. "Yeah, I just spent time calling people only to gain absolutely nothing from doing so. I'm going to grab some equipment from Donnie's lab and then I'll be right back."  
As Sam started walking towards the lab, she could hear Donnie talking to himself as he continued to study the ooze.  
"Alright Donnie, you got this, okay."  
Sam smiled and did her best to move as quietly as possible so that she didn't disturb her friend.  
"Alright, dissolve the quadra helix bonds, reverse the cohesion, wait…" he then looked up from his magnifying glasses and tools in curious shock, "that would mean…is it really possible?"  
"I'll take Dorkatello has made a discovery for 500" Sam said as she continued to look through shelves and drawers for various devices.  
Donnie spun around and looked at her. "Oh, when did you get here?"  
"Less than a minute ago. I'm just grabbing some devices for tracking and what not. Is everything okay?" she asked as she turned her head to face him.  
"I think I discovered something life changing. No offense, but-"  
"Don't worry, I know that when you're in the zone you need everything silent with no distractions. Ahh, found the last gadget, so I'm out of here" she said with a smile.  
Donnie mimicked the same expression. "Thanks Sam. I promise I'll explain more about it once I'm done."  
"Oh I know you will. You're not allowed to react like that and then exclude me, that's where war begins."  
Donnie rolled his eyes and then turned back around to get to work, and Sam made sure to shut the door behind her as she left the room.

She then returned to her spot on the couch and started setting up tablets, radios, cameras, all different types up devices so that she could listen in on others conversations and hack online documents (all mostly coming from police headquarters).  
"Hey, you sent in your application for Blair, right?" Mikey asked as he listened in to different stations after Sam had instructed him on how to do so.  
"Yeah, I did that a while ago, why?"  
"Wellllll?" he asked.  
She wanted to tease him, but she was so excited that she couldn't contain her joy filled smile as she gave him a thumbs up.  
His eyes went wide as he pat his best friend on the back. "Yes! I knew it! Sweet, even during college for the next four years you'll still be close to home!...oh, I mean *cough* I would have supported you no matter where you wanted to go" he said as he then looked off into the distance.  
"You don't have to lie, I'd be a liar if I said I'd be happy if you guys decided to live in the sewers in another city. But lucky for you your best friend is someone who likes to permanently stay close to home, and Blair has everything I could ask for in a university."  
"Heh, including giant mutant ninja turtles living close by."  
"Oh that's my favorite part" Sam teased. She then stood up and started walking towards the left.  
"Hey, where you going?" Mikey called after her.  
"Bathroom. You want to join, since you need to know my every move?" she mocked.  
"If you're not hurt then nah, Splinter would kill me" Mikey said, looking and fidgeting with the hand held radio the entire time he spoke.  
Sam nodded her head. "Not exactly the answer I was expecting, but I'll take it."

***A couple minutes later, leaving Mikey's room (she used the bathroom that was in his room)***

****As Sam entered the hallway, she could hear Donnie calling out to Leo. By the time she reached the entry way into the rest of the lair, Donnie was already standing in the doorway to his oldest brother's room. The genius must have been consumed in whatever he was thinking about since he obviously hadn't noticed Mikey on the living room couch and now he obviously couldn't sense that Mikey was hiding by a ledge nearby where the bedroom was.  
Sam silently creeped out from where she was standing and scaled along the wall to the right. She didn't know why she needed to be so sneaky, but Mikey was acting suspicious, so she assumed he was listening to something he shouldn't be and then assumed that she wasn't supposed to hear this either, but of course she was still going to. She then quickly snuck out through the exit by the living room and then hid near the entry way leading into the kitchen. She stood in the entry way at an angle where it would be extremely difficult to see her from where Donnie was standing. She listened carefully as the oldest and third oldest brothers talked.  
"Leo. Okay, so I made a solution from the sample of the purple ooze to expedite an analysis of the isotope. But while I was waiting for it to catalyze, I started thinking that if the purple ooze can turn humans into animals, then perhaps if properly reengineered, then it could turn us…into humans."  
There was a pause before Donnie began speaking again. Sam couldn't believe what she was hearing, and her curiosity grew larger after she saw Mikey and his awestruck expression as he looked down at his hand. What was going on in there?!  
"If we could get our hands on more of this stuff, it could be life changing" Donnie continued, but then there was another pause.  
Now it was Leo who spoke. "We don't need that kind of change."

Sam didn't know exactly what it was, but she felt a slight pain in her chest when she heard this. It wasn't a physical pain, but rather an emotional one. There were so many opportunities that all four of the turtles could experience if they could switch over to look like humans every once in a blue moon, and she had never told ANYONE this, but there were times where she would have given almost anything to experience certain things with her turtle friends. This was the selfish side to her emotional hurt. She loved all her human friends, but she also loved the turtles very much with all her heart and they were her family. She wished she could take them to ride the roller coasters at different amusement parks, and she wanted to take them to nice water parks as well. During Halloween she would have loved to go to a haunted house with the guys (and she purposefully would have teamed up with Mikey to scare the heck out of the older three brothers). She wanted to travel with the guys, and if she ever got the chance to travel to Japan and South Korea, then she wanted to have the turtles by her side as she did so. She also would have loved to travel to more local destinations, like the beach and the boardwalks down in New Jersey. Even simple things like ice skating she had never been able to do because all the skating rinks were in highly populated locations in the heart of the city. There was so much that she would have loved to show to the guys and experience with them, and hearing Leo shut down the idea hurt her heart in a way that she was not expecting.  
The other emotional pain came from seeing her best friend's reaction. Sam could see that Mikey's heart also broke when he heard his older brother dismiss the idea of ever getting to be human. There was so much that he wanted to experience in life, and he had the perfect personality to just blend in with large crowds of people and have fun and experience new things. Sam would have given anything to provide such an opportunity to her best friend, even if it meant him leaving her so that he could meet hundreds and thousands of new people as he journeyed into the city and into the world, but seeing him so happy would have been worth it. But any and all thoughts of this were shut down immediately after Leo made his call.

Sam was awakened from her thoughts as she heard Donnie talk once again.  
"Okay. You're right. To blend in with humans could compromise our strategic advantage. We have a system that works, we shouldn't mess with the formula.  
"…and Donnie," Leo called back, "you can't say a word of this to the others."

Sam's eyes went wide. Donnie was loyal as anything and would basically follow any order that made sense, and he would follow it regardless if the order came from one his family members, especially their oldest brother and leader. Sam couldn't imagine what was going on through Donnie's head right now. Not only had he been given a red light on continuing to study something that was probably racing all throughout his mind, but now he was being told to lie and keep secrets from his other two brothers who happened to be the most emotional in the family as well.  
Sam felt anger towards Leo. She knew he was trying to protect them and that no matter what he didn't trust the idea of blending in with humans for a variety of reasons, but to handle the situation this way was ridiculous and wrong.  
Her anger soon switched over to sorrow as she looked back to her best friend who was still in hiding as Leo grabbed something from the fridge and then returned to his room and as Donnie walked back to his lab. Mikey still looked so broken after hearing everything that Leo had said. He longed for a chance to live his life to the fullest, and within seconds the only opportunity he had ever had was ripped away from him, and he didn't even get a say in it! And the worst part, Raph knew none of this. Sam knew that all hell would break loose if and when Raph found out.

"*sigh* Things are going to get pretty hectic around here soon, I just know it."

**Sorry if you guys thought that the beginning was a lot of unnecessary backstory and added info about all the human characters. I have plans for ALL of them in the future, some of them you might have ideas as to how since I included their last names, but they will all have various roles that they will play as the series continues on. I'm still making up some parts as I go and as I re-watch the different series and continue to learn about the various series and what happens in each, but even before I started doing that I already had so many ideas of what I wanted to do with this series. So these characters will come into play, but I apologize if the beginning felt like it just dragged on with talk of new characters. These should be a lot of the main characters outside of canon characters, though each of the teens does have an older sibling or two, but I decided that they won't need to be mentioned until later on if it becomes more important. **

**Also, mini rant session here: So, as always, before I start drafting out the chapter I always go back and re-watch the scenes from the film so that I can make sure my scenes are blending in at the right time and match up to continue the flow of the story. As I was watching the scene where the turtles meet Casey in the alley for the first time, I love the moment where Raph and Mikey block off Casey so that he can't get close to April as she tells Donnie and Leo what she saw in Baxter's lab. These two clash so often because they always display the younger brother annoying the older brother, so I love this scene where they're joking around and messing with Casey as a duo, it's like a rare bonding moment the viewers never see…though sadly it meant torment for Casey xD**

**I've also told friends before that I wish somehow there was a way where ALL recorded footage was released in the bonus features. Not just deleted and alternate scenes, but like all the recorded footage (not necessarily edited and animated, but at least the original recorded film itself). I believe it was Alan Ritchson who plays Raph who stated in an interview for one of the two films that based on all the scenes that were filmed that the movie could have followed two or three different directions, but because so much was left out, we only saw a small section of everything that was actually filmed. I WANT TO SEE WHAT OTHER DIRECTIONS THE FILM COULD HAVE GONE IN! I feel like that would get a lot more people to become interested in the film series as well. I'm still upset that as of now there is no green light for a third film even though there were 4 films in the contact the lead actors signed. Anyway, there was also an interview where Megan Fox and others mentioned the various action scenes they shot. Apparently there were scenes where the turtles threw April over their shoulders and ran to keep her safe from the Foot, yet we NEVER SEE THIS. Like I would have loved scenes like that! It would have been so cool, and honestly adorable, to see the guys be so protective towards her. And then in behind the scenes footage of the scene where the turtles meet Casey, literally as they're leaving the alley, Donnie holds onto April's arm and leads her out of the alley. That would have been awesome to see in the movie! Like I would love to see a straight roll of ALL footage that was shot but not used in the films, and not just these films either.**

**Rant over, thank you for listening to TheNerdyTomboyNewb96 and her thoughts xD**


	6. Chapter 33

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #33

***Late night June 6****th**** into the early morning of June 7****th****, Saturday into Sunday* **

****It was about 10:20p.m. when Leo and Donnie had finished talking and both had returned to the rooms they had originally left. Sam traveled back through the hallway in the sewers and returned through the entry way right by the living room. She walked over to the couch the exact same time Mikey did. They both turned and sighed as they plopped down and slumped into the cushions.  
Mikey dully turned his head so that he could look at Sam. "What happened to you?"  
Sam moved in the same way. "I heard the same conversation that you did" she mumbled.  
Mikey was a bit confused. He knew why he was upset about what Leo had said in regards to not needing the purple ooze to become human and the fact that he had done so without asking him, but how did that affect Sam?  
"Why does that make you upset?"  
Sam furrowed her brow and turned her head so she was staring straight at Mikey. "What?"  
"You heard what Leo said about the ooze, right?"  
Sam nodded her head. "Yeah, that you guys can't try to become human for a little while."  
Mikey's eyes went wide. "A little while? I want to mutate and be human forever man" Mikey said firmly.  
Sam displayed a confused expression. "Why? What's fun in that? I never would have met you guys if you were normal human beings-"  
"Yeah but you don't know that" Mikey said a bit forcefully. He wasn't rude in the way he spoke, but his tone became a lot more serious. "If we were human then maybe we could have met you years ago. Maybe we could have even met your family and became friends with them."  
Sam was stunned. "I never knew you felt that way. I know you wanted to go on the surface and all, but I never knew you wanted to change your entire life like that, or that you had thought that much into it."  
Mikey leaned back into the couch and tilted his head so that he was looking up at the ceiling as he spoke. "I've always wondered what it would be like to live life up top. I don't regret how my life has been though. I've had a great life for 16 years, but…I just want to add to it, you know? There's so much still out there and I'll never get to experience any of it" he said glumly.  
Sam looked away and stared forward towards the t.v. as she also slumped back into the couch. She had to look away somewhere, she couldn't stand to see her best friend so hurt.  
"I wish there was something I could do to help you out…" she muttered.  
Mikey picked up on this instantly and now felt the exact same way. He couldn't stand to hear the sorrow in his friend's voice, and ever since he saw her cry a year ago during her sibling's anniversary, he had vowed he would do his best to keep her happy and safe. Thinking of this, he realized that his words were depressing her and he decided to try and switch the conversation around.  
"Sam, you already do a lot for us, and for me."  
Sam continued to look forward as she sat silently.  
A smile formed on the turtles face. "Sam, who helped me build the rec rooms with stuff that I had never used before like go karts and trampolines and rock climbing walls?"  
"….me."  
"And who helped sneak me in to awesome places like the movies, the mall, and laser tag?"  
"…I did" Sam replied in a more firm tone.  
"And who is the only one who supports me at times like when I wanted to go up to the surface during the Halloween parade?"  
"I am" Sam said with a confident nod as she finally turned to face her friend.  
"Exactly! You already do a lot to make like more exciting."  
Sam smiled at her friend, appreciating his kind words.  
Mikey then realized that Sam had never answered his original question.  
"Hey, you still never told me why you were so upset when you heard Leo say that we couldn't try to become human" he said, squinting his eyes at her in curiosity.  
Sam quickly looked away as a light but still noticeable blush came across her cheeks, which shocked the heck out of her.  
_"What the hell? I don't want him to know all that I want to experience with him and his brothers, too mushy, but why I am getting so embarrassed about this?"  
_"Sammmm?" Mikey questioned, leaning forward to peak around at her since she had turned her head the other way. That's when he noticed the light red in her cheeks.  
"Hey are you okay? Your face looks kind of red" he said with a slight hint of concern in his voice.  
Sam thought of a white lie to use to hide her true thoughts. She whipped back around and spoke in a 'matter of fact' tone.  
"I just got concerned when I saw you react the way you did."  
This wasn't a lie. In fact, she was extremely upset when she saw the sorrow filled expression on Mikey's face after he heard Leo speak, but this was not the true reason as to why she was blushing. But Mikey would never know this truth.  
_"Huh, now I'm keeping secrets. What is happening to me?" _she thought to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Mikey displaying a beaming smile.  
"Dawwwww were you worried about me?" he teased.  
"Psh, me? Never" Sam said as she crossed her arms and looked away.  
"You care about me" Mikey said, poking his friend in the shoulder.  
Sam opened one eye and peeked back over her shoulder at him. "Do I know you?"  
"Your hair does" Mikey said with a devilish grin, and before Sam could process what this meant, he was already ruffling her hair, again.  
"No! I'll have to brush it again!" Sam said, literally twisting to swat his arm away and then rolling backwards off the couch and onto her feet.  
"Say you know me" Mikey said, slowly standing up from his spot on the couch.  
"Never" Sam said, a devilish grin of her own forming on her face.  
"Say ittttt." Mikey looked like he was about to pounce.  
"I. DON'T. KNOW. YOU" Sam said as she then went to dash out of the lair and into the sewers. Sam was quick, but Mikey had been quicker this time and extended his nunchuks so that the one side became a chain sickle (though he withdrew the blade to keep his friend safe) and launched it towards her in time for it to swing around her and pull her back. As Sam was forced into Mikey's arms, he wrapped his arms around her and held her so that she faced away from him. He knew that she had the mutagen based strength to break free with ease, but she would never do this because it could harm her friend. This meant that with just her strength alone, she was trapped, and he was free to mess her hair up as long as he pleased.  
"Alright tomboy. You hate make-up, but you love keeping your hair as straight as you can get it. Talk now, or the strands will fly" he said in a menacing voice, but in a playful way of course.  
Sam laughed her ass off the entire time as she tried to wriggle out of his grip, but again, her normal muscle was nothing compared to Michelangelo's. After a couple minutes of trying and having a hand mess up her hair, she finally admitted defeat.  
"Alright! I know you!" she laughed.  
"Who am I?"  
"Mikey."  
"What am I?"  
"Picky."  
"Wrong."  
"Greedy."  
"Sammmmmm."  
"I was supposed to admit I knew you, not label you!"  
"Last chance!"  
"You're my best friend and you're like my brother."  
Mikey let go of the girl, who quickly started running her hand through her messy hair.  
"Gosh Sam. We're cool and all, but I think you're getting way too attached to me. I mean I barely even know you, but I'm like you're brother? Like this is too much" Mikey said, his hands up as he backed away like a celebrity trying to walk away from the press.  
Sam glared at him with a smile. "You better get back over here and fix this" she demanded.  
Mikey didn't even have to ask for her brush as he reached for her bag on the side of the couch and within seconds pulled out the brush she used every day.  
Mikey sat on one end of the couch while Sam sat criss-cross in front of him.

About five minutes into Mikey brushing the girl's hair (something he had become good at over the past year, that and helping her paint her nails) Sam heard her phone go off.  
"I got it" Mikey said as he paused the brushing and reached into the bag and handed Sam her phone. This way she wouldn't have to move while he continued to 'work his magic', Mikey's words of course.  
Sam looked at the caller I.D. and then answered the phone. "April. What's up?"  
_"Hey, is everything okay back at the lair?"  
_"What exactly do you mean by that?" Sam questioned.  
_"I called Donnie a few minutes ago to send him updates and he still hasn't answered his shell cell. What does that mean?"  
_Sam pursed her lips together as she answered. "Uhh, let's just say there was a verbal…incident that happened. Nothing major, but I think it might have put Donnie in a bit of a funk."  
_"Is everything okay?"  
_"Yeah, all will be fine. I think he just needed some space for a little while. I'll update you when I see you in person again. But I can relay the updates to him now if that's okay."  
_"Thanks Sam. So Casey contacted Jade and found out that the full canister of the ooze is being held at police headquarters. So at least we know that it's safe for now. He also learned through a few other sources that a team of Foot soldiers was getting their gear together and was about to move soon."  
_"*sigh* well that's just awesome."  
_"Heh, I feel the same way. We're heading back now so that we can all discuss things further. And Sam-"  
_"Don't worry I'm heading in to check up on him now. Talk to you soon April."  
_"Thanks Sam. See you soon."_

Sam hung up the phone and stood up from the couch.  
"I'm going to go talk to Donnie for a little bit."  
Mikey signaled the 'o.k.' symbol and reached for the remote after putting the brush back into the bag.  
"He's in his room" he called over to Sam who had started walking towards the lab.  
She froze and listened carefully as she realized that there were no sounds coming from inside the lab and then turned towards the right side of the lair where Donnie's room would be.  
"Bingo!" Mikey called out.  
Sam turned to thank him and then walked across the lair towards Donnie's room.  
_"Wow, I guess Donnie's not the only one in a funk. I never realized he had left the lab. What's scarier is that Mikey sensed something that I didn't! Either I'm losing my focus due to emotions again or Mikey is getting better at picking up on small details."  
_As Sam was walking past the kitchen, Leo also happened to exit his room at the same time. The two were about to cross paths, so Sam shot him a quick small smile and then continued on, hoping he wouldn't say anything in concern of her quick and somewhat suspicious expression. Leo did slow his steps for a couple seconds, but he continued to look forward and decided that that girl was fine, so he continued to walk over towards the raised pipe in the central part of the lair so that he could train. Sam was just grateful that he hadn't stopped her. She would always love and support Leo like he was her own brother and also since he was the leader of all the turtles, but she really didn't want to talk to him right now, and if she was being brutally honest, she didn't even really want to look at him right now. She still needed to let her own emotions and mindset simmer down some or else she would accidentally talk sassy to him even if she didn't mean to do so and would end up making things worse.

__Once Sam reached her destination she knocked on the door to Donnie's room and heard a mumbled "it's open."  
She slowly opened the door and poked her head inside to see Donnie fidgeting with a small device that could be used as a scanner at his gaming space, which was basically a large and cushioned cut out section of the wall that formed a huge circle for him to lay in.  
"Hey, you okay?" she asked as she walked in and took a seat in the swivel chair at the desk in his room.  
He continued to look at the scanner he was messing with as he spoke. "I'll be fine."  
Sam pursed her lips together. "I guess you're still hurting from Leo's words to huh" she said as she stood up and adjusted her position so that she was sitting on the now turned around chair so that she could lay her arms across the top.  
This caught Donnie's attention as he quickly looked up at her and frowned.  
"You were spying on us?"  
Sam paused. "No…I was spying on Mikey…who was spying on you two."  
Donnie groaned. "What is wrong with you two? Don't you know anything about privacy?"  
"Of course I do. That's why I knocked on your door before entering."  
Donnie sighed. "So what exactly did you hear?"  
"You adjusted the purple ooze so that it could turn you human, permanently apparently, and you got super excited and Leo shot it down within seconds."  
A confused expression covered the turtles face. "Why do you sound upset with us permanently becoming human? It would be such an incredible discovery in biology and other sciences!"  
Sam's face blushed a tad bit again. "It just wouldn't be the same."  
"That's the point though! So much would change!" Donnie said, slightly raising his voice as he now sat up on his curved seat.  
"But…I met you guys because you look and live like this…"  
Donnie stared at Sam eye to eye. "I understand that, but with your intelligence, I'm sure we still would have met somehow. If I went to school then we'd probably end up in a lot of the same after school groups. And then as an adult, if I had the chance to be human and work with real scientists, who knows what we could come up with together. I mean yeah I can accomplish a lot on my own, but with a team, who knows what we could do! And that's just me! Who knows what all of us could accomplish if we lived normal lives like everyone else. My inventions and my discoveries with my team of different scientists in different fields could create so many things that could change life as we know it. Wouldn't you want that for me? For all of us?"  
Sam was a bit taken aback by how much thought Donatello had put into such a situation that until an hour or so ago would never have seemed possible.  
Her face told Donnie that she was sad, but also that she understood what he wanted and why.  
"Of course I want that for you, and I know you would do incredible things for this world. I also want you to be human at times so that I can show you more of what the world has to offer. But…I don't want you guys to change forever. More so temporarily. Plus if you were human then I wouldn't be able to hang out with you in some of the ways that I do."  
"Sam, you do realize that YOU are a human and even before the mutagen you were fighting bad guys and sneaking into buildings and running across rooftops, right?" Donnie said, smiling for the first time in over an hour.  
Sam paused, soaking in her friend's words. "Well I guess that one is true. I don't know, I just wouldn't want it to be a permanent thing. I can't find the words to explain why I feel that way, but I know I just do. Sorry if that's rude or anything" she said, looking down towards the ground.  
Donnie chuckled. "Sam, there's nothing wrong with you not wanting us to change because you don't want to lose us."  
The girl quickly turned her head back to look at the turtle in front of her. "Wait, what?"  
"You're afraid that if we become human we're going to end up talking to a bunch of other people and you think we won't have time for you, right?"  
Sam's eyes went wide. "I wasn't thinking that, but now I am."  
"That would never happen smarts. We're not going anywhere, but I do understand why you would only want us to be human on temporary occasions. *sigh* but even if I could do that, Leo would still shoot it down in mere seconds again."

Sam saw the turtle lean back into his curved seat with a glum expression again, but now she was too caught up in her own thoughts to sense anything else.  
Had she been afraid they wouldn't talk to her? Was that thought hiding in the back of her mind the entire time and she hadn't even realized it? She knew she didn't want them to be humans forever if they had the chance to become human at all, but she wasn't able to explain why she had felt this way. Was this really the reason why? She knew that the other night when Mikey went to join the Halloween parade that she had come to terms knowing that if he wanted to talk to other people that she would be okay if he left her alone since he was a naturally social person, but was she really okay with that? Did she really fear that all of the turtles would leave her in the dust if they had the chance to meet new people? Would she be okay if they all acted this way? If these thoughts were hiding in the back of her mind, then what else was lurking in her subconscious that she didn't even realize was there?!  
"Sam?"  
Sam looked up to see Donnie staring at her as he continued to lean back in his curved seat.  
"What's up?"  
"…you okay?"  
Sam stared blankly at him. "Yeah I'm fine, why?"  
"I just asked you a question twice and you just sat there."  
"…Oh…well third times a charm."  
Donnie shook his head with a smile. "I asked if checking in was the only reason you came in here."  
"Oh no! That was reason number one. Reason number two is that April sent me some updates."  
His brow rose. "Oh, what did she say?"  
"She said that the ooze is being held at police headquarters and that Casey talked to some personal contacts who said that the Foot soldiers are getting ready to make their move."  
Donnie nodded his head. "That's good that the mutagen is being held there, but I have a bad feeling about the Foot soldiers. Shredder is up to something, and-"  
Just then, Mikey had slowly opened the door, and after no one told him to get out, he quickly rushed into the room and shut the door behind him.  
Donnie and Sam sent him questioning looks, ones that were not exactly happy either.  
"What did you do this time?" Sam asked.  
Mikey began poking his fingers together. "I…MAYYYYY have told Raph what I heard Leo and Donnie talking about earlier, hehe" he said timidly.  
Donnie's eyes went wide. "Are you serious? WHY?! He's going to lose his shit-"  
_"HEY LEO! POP QUIZ!"_  
"*Sigh* again, why?" Donnie groaned.  
Mikey looked down at the ground in guilt. "I just needed someone to talk to about it you know? I mean, this is serious stuff and Leo totally just kicked us to the curb like we're not important and like our word means nothing…"  
Sam swung her arm so that her hand was motioning back and forth towards her and Mikey.  
"Hello! Hi! That's what I'm for! We literally talked about it not that long ago! I'm the one you go to so that you don't have to tell Raph about serious shit that will make him explode!"  
Donnie squinted his eyes at the pair. "What do you guys talk about so that Raph doesn't have to know about it?"  
"Not the point! You!" Sam said, looking back and pointing at Mikey, "why would you talk to him after we both just talked about this? You know that without telling him important info in a very calm and specific way will set him off."  
"Because I wasn't done talking about it yet and then you went to go talk to Donnie."  
"Well that doesn't make me feel bad" Donnie said in a low voice.  
Mikey rolled his eyes and waved his brother away. "Dude that's not what I meant and you know it! Of course I wanted her to check up on you, but like, the thoughts were still fresh in my mind, you know? Like I wasn't DONE talking about it, and everyone knows that you and Leo are good at giving advice and boosting people's confidence, but it's me and Raph who help cheer people up because we're the emotional ones, even though Raph will never admit that himself."  
Sam and Donnie looked at each other and nodded. They knew that was a fair argument. As rough and tough as Raph was, he could be just as sensitive as Mikey. Oddly it was one of the biggest traits the two had in common.  
"I guess I can accept that reasoning" Sam said with a smile as she put her hands behind her head.  
"I still want to know what you two have been hiding that you share only amongst yourselves" Donnie said with a questioning grin.  
Just then, his scanner went off. Donnie quickly typed in some codes on the device and tracked that the break in happened at the Museum of Natural History.  
"Shredder, and he probably has his soldiers and the new mutants…we have to tell them" Donnie said as he began to rush towards the door.  
Sam and Mikey followed him, and all three heard the continuing argument between the oldest two as they slowly (because they wanted to see the argument go down) made their way across the kitchen.

For now, Raph's voice was low as he spoke while standing alongside Leo, who attempted to keep himself calm by facing away from his brother and continuing his training session.  
"If there's even a chance that ooze could make us human-"  
"We're turtles, whether you like it or not" Leo said in a bitter tone.  
Raph's lower voice then got higher.  
"It's not about what I like. It's about what people are willing to accept."  
"True acceptance comes from within."  
Raph rolled his eyes, and as he now also spoke with large hand gestures, his voice continued to rise.  
"Don't give me that fortune cookie muck! You should consult with us before you decide to do something like that!"  
It could be seen that Leo was losing his temper as much as Raph was, especially since the two didn't realize that they had an audience of three watching them as they stood still on the other side of the room.  
Leo stopped his workout and stood up straight as he faced his brother.  
"I consulted Donnie, and we decided that there's nothing-"  
"And what about Mikey? We don't get a vote?!"  
Raph shoved Leo after making his comment, and this is what officially pushed him over the edge.  
"THERE'S ONLY ONE VOTE THAT COUNTS IN THIS FAMILY! Mine."

Leo continued to glare at his brother in a way that signaled that this battle was over and that his word was final. Raph just stood there in stunned silence as he glared back at his older brother. Donnie and Mikey stood there in shock since they couldn't believe that Leo could say such a thing. They knew he was the leader and their oldest brother, but this was going pretty far, even for him, and they wondered what had gotten into him to make him act the way he had been lately. Because of all this, no one noticed that Sam had spun around. She had no idea why, but for the first time she could sense something building inside of her and she knew her uncontrollable emotion was coming. Her eyes shone blue, but because she was now facing away from everyone, nobody knew that this was happening to her. She clenched her fists together and shut her eyes tight, fighting her best to calm herself down without bringing attention to herself while also hiding what was happening to her from the rest of the brothers, afraid that this reaction would somehow make things worse.

"Leo, an alarm just tripped at the Hayden planetarium. We have to get up town" Donnie informed, cutting off the painful silence.  
Sam turned her just a small bit, her eyes still blue (which everyone had yet to notice) as she peeked at Leo. To her disbelief, his head was actually turned to the side, almost as if he realized how harsh he had just been and like he regretted saying what he did to his brother. But she wasn't sure if he truly felt this way based on how he reacted right after.  
Leo jumped off the raised pipe and walked between Mikey and Donnie.  
"Gear up Donnie." He then lightly shoved Mikey as he walked by the two youngest. "Sam, you stay here, since the other night proved that you can't follow code either. Same goes for you two."  
Sam said nothing and instead continued to look away in a stance so that none of the brothers could see her face.  
Raph, fuming, leapt off the pipe while Mikey and Donnie both stood there with their arms up as a way to say 'are you serious?'.  
"YOU'RE BENCHING ME?!" Raph exclaimed.  
"Call it what you want!" Leo shouted back as he then stated to jog out of the lair through the exit by the truck.  
"What did I do?!" Mikey exclaimed, a pained expression displayed on his face.  
"Sorry guys" Donnie said with a shrug and an apologetic look before he also took off in a quickened jog to catch up with his oldest brother.  
If there wasn't a serious incident taking place than the three might have fought back some, but they knew that the city could be in danger depending on what just happened at the planetarium, so for now they all followed the orders they were given.

"Well that went well" Mikey pouted.  
"The nerve this guy has, big timing us! He may be fine with the status quo, but that doesn't mean we can't make our own decisions!" Raph bellowed as he stormed off towards the other side of the lair.  
Mikey was about to follow, but now that all the commotion had died down, he realized that Sam had yet to say a word, or even move for that matter.  
"Sam?" Mikey said in a low voice. He slowly walked around so that he could see his friends face, and for the first time he realized that her eyes had turned blue. Her eyes were closed, but the light still shone in a dim light.  
"Sam!" Mikey said as he gently put his hands on his friend's shoulders.  
Sam opened her eyes, her fists still clenched.  
"What happened?" Raph asked, quickly making his way back over towards the other two.  
"An enemy is attacking" Sam stated bluntly in a monotone voice.  
The two boys just looked at each other.  
"What do you mean by that?" Raph asked gently.  
"Someone is bringing chaos into your family. I must end him before he hurts all of you."  
Raph rolled his eyes. "There's no enemy. Leo was just being a prick."  
"He hurt you."  
Raph paused and thought of what to say next. "Yes, but I'm okay. See? My body is intact. No injuries."  
Sam tilted her head, though she was still looking at Mikey and not at Raph. "No injuries?"  
"Nope! Not a single one."  
The color faded from Sam's eyes and her hands were now calm.  
"I'm pissed at your brother" she said as she looked back and forth at the two turtles in front of her.  
Mikey released her arms and sighed. "We're not happy with him either."  
"Well we're going to show him that we can make our own decisions" Raph grunted.  
Sam nodded. "If you mean retrieving the purple ooze on our own, then I agree. Leo is leader, but you're not his minions, and he's not thinking straight."  
"Yeah!...so what's happening?" Mikey asked in confusion.  
Raph looked at Sam with a bit of shock. "Wait, you're going to help us?"  
Sam rapidly nodded her head. "The ooze is being held at police headquarters. The police are no match for the Foot, or else the clan would have disbanded years ago. If we don't act fast then Shredder will get it back and mutate more humans into mutants. I'm pretty sure he just took a team of soldiers and his new mutants with him to do who knows what at the museum, so now is the best time to get the ooze back. We have to stop him, and if Leo won't work with us, then we'll make a plan on our own. You guys are capable of doing that, and he should have more faith in you to do so."  
Raph's brow rose in surprise to the girl's words. "I'm used to you playing the protective sister, not the delinquent teenage runaway" Raph said with a smirk.  
Sam rolled her eyes. "This was me all the time after certain events in my life. Just be glad I'm on your side."  
Raph just shook his head. "Alright, let's start working on a plan.

Sam nodded and the two went back to the eatery to sit down and discuss what would happen in order for them to secure the ooze and protect it from the Foot…while Mikey was clueless and just followed along, wondering what it was they were all doing. 


	7. Chapter 34

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #34

***Late night Saturday June 6****th**** around 11:00p.m. into early morning Sunday June 7****th*******

****It was just a little after 11p.m. when Leo and Donnie had left the lair, and it wasn't much longer after that when Sam and Raph began working together to form a plan on how to retrieve the purple ooze from police headquarters.  
"Alright. Before we can do anything, I need to hack into the headquarters database carefully so I can print out a layout of their building. I'm sure there's a specific area for classified items and this will help us try and figure out just where that is."  
Raph felt odd seeing Sam working at Donnie's seat and using his tech. For a short moment, a wave of guilt washed over him. He knew that Sam was allowed to use all of his brother's tech at this point in life, but the reason why she was using it left him with an uneasy feeling. He then closed his eyes and remembered why they were going behind his brother's backs and that this would be for a life changing cause, and after that, his head was back in the game.  
A few moments later the blue print was ready and the two began searching throughout the maze on the sheet that was the police headquarters building.  
"There."  
Raph pointed to a spot on the sheet that was labeled 'Evidence Room'.  
"This should be our spot. We need to find a way to get April and Casey to this room. Are there any sneak entrances? Or isolated emergency exits?"  
The two continued to look.  
Sam sighed. "Ironically the closest entrance towards this room is the front entrance itself. So before we can plan anything else, we need to figure out how we're going to get them past the cops at the head desk."  
Mikey then suddenly spoke as he was swinging his nunchuks around as he stood on the raised pipe nearby. He didn't really know all that the other two were talking about, but he was listening to bits and pieces.  
"Hey, what about the falcon?"  
Sam and Raph both looked at each other. Sam looked surprised while Raph just looked disgusted.  
"That…could actually work" Sam added with a smile.  
"Ugh, how could he possibly cause a distraction? What could he do?" Raph groaned.  
"People all throughout the city think that Vern is a hero, and that includes the police. He could go in and say that he came in specifically to visit them, butter them up you know? Then April and Casey could walk straight up to the check in station if Vern distracts the cops in a way so that they're attention is diverted from that station."  
Raph pursed his lips in defeat. "*sigh* Fine. If that's our best shot at getting things to work out in our favor, then I guess it's what we have to do."  
"Alright, now the next step is worrying about how they get checked in."  
"Oh!" Raph said as he looked up and stared at Sam with wide eyes. "Donnie has tech for that! He's used it before so that April could get into other places to find behind the scenes details for her news reports. Oh it's got to be in here somewhere" he said as he rushed into his brother's lab and began looking for the devices that allowed April's fake I.D. to be accepted at different locations. She had multiple fake I.D.'s in case one identity was ever discovered, but in order to use any of them then Raph needed to find the device that activated them.  
A couple minutes later, Raph walked out of the lab with a small square flash drive.  
"I know he uses this. If we can get Vern to plug this into a computer then April's fake I.D. should automatically be entered into the system" Raph said. He then paused as he noticed Sam rolling her hand in front of him, as if she was waiting for him to continue talking.  
"What?" he grunted.  
"You do realize you need more than JUST the flash drive, right?" she asked.  
Raph shrugged.  
Sam smiled as she stood up. "I need one of Donnie's tablets" Now it was her turn to scavenge through the nerd lab.  
"Why do we need a tablet? Vern can't take a tablet in with him. Only the flash drive can be used in secret" Raph called out to his friend from the door way of the lab.  
Sam continued to look through drawers and shelves as she talked.  
"Because the flash drive can set up the system, but the tablet allows us to tell the system what we want it to do. Basically one gets things running and the other guides what the final outcome will be. It's basically a super complex program that hardcore coders, aka your brother, are able to access. It's one of those things where the best of the best can find it and safely download it. I could never do, but once your brother introduced it to me I was able to get the gist of how to use it."  
Raph chuckled as he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway. "I thought you were supposed to be a genius to?" he said with a smirk.  
Sam shook her head and smiled as she continued her search. "I'm smart, but I'm not a genius. I can pick things up relatively quickly, but I can't always answer and discover things on my own like Donnie can. I'm just a lab assistant compared to him. Aha! Found it!"  
Sam picked up the tablet and then walked over to one of the computers within Donnie's lab.  
"Raph, walk over to that drawer over there and toss me one of April's fake I.D.'s."  
Raph did as he was told and Sam got to work once the card was in her hand.  
Raph walked over and leaned over the girl's shoulder as she typed and clicked away on the computer.  
"Sooooooo what are you doing now?" he asked.  
"Making sure that the program recognizes this specific card and the information on it. And according to this, everything matches up."  
"And this means?"  
Sam smiled as she pushed back in the chair and stood up as she lead the two back out of the room and over towards the blue prints by the collage of computers.  
"It means that once the flash drive is inserted into a computer at headquarters, then as long as we can get close enough, the I.D. will be accepted. But we need to see if the vents allow us to get close enough. Sadly that's the only downfall to the program. The main device has to be within close range in order for it to connect to whatever device is scanning her I.D. Sadly these are some of the cons of downloading programs like this. They're made in secret and are knock offs of official government tactics which means they can't be used as well as more professional programs."  
Raph, who had been looking at the blue prints while Sam talked, now looked up with a smile.  
"Well, I guess it's a good thing there's a vent way that cuts across the ceiling of the main entrance" he said as he pointed to the area he was talking about.  
Sam scanned the area quickly and nodded.  
"Man, the luck that we have right now is insane. This will work. That should be close enough for the program to connect. So we'll have the tablet in the vents and can quickly get the program working to accept April's I.D."  
"So then they go in, access the evidence room…wait, there's no way that there won't be cameras or something in that room."  
"Wait…" Sam said as she tapped on the screen for a few seconds. "Yup, this tablet has like a ridiculous amount of programs that do different things. One of them being a hacking program. I can easily rewind and alter the cameras so that April and Casey can basically walk right in without anyone ever knowing. Our main issue will be if there's anyone in the room itself."  
"In that case, we can always remove a tile from the ceiling and cause some type of distraction. You know, drop a smoke bomb or something to get everyone a bit frantic and away from that area. The three of us are slick enough that we could escape in no time and never get caught."  
Sam nodded her head.  
"I think we have a pretty solid plan" Sam said, putting her fist up for a fist bump.  
Raph sent her an annoyed and questioning look. "Are you serious?"  
"Right, I forgot. You're so cool and mature that you can't even fist bump. Wow, so mature. Total adult. Independence detected."  
"Oh shut up" Raph mocked as he lifted his hand up to follow through with the gesture.  
Sam had already put her hand down. "A fist bump? What are you, 5?" she teased, and then rolled across the table to dodge the light playful punch that Raph had swung her way as pay back for messing with him.

"Oh boy. Why are you rolling across furniture now?" April asked from across the lair near the kitchen, Casey following behind her. It was about 11:15p.m. at this point.  
Of course, now was when Mikey suddenly reappeared. "Hey! The Hogosha is back! What up gorgeous?"  
He, Raph and Sam all made their way over to the eatery and had a seat. Casey sat in the left seat with April next to him. Then Mikey sat across from her and had Sam sitting next to him and across from Casey. Raph stood along the side of the table as he talked. He explained, in a shockingly calm and nonchalant tone, how Leo and Donnie decided that it was best that the group split up for this next mission.  
April nodded her head as Raph explained where the other half had gone. "Okay. So they went to the planetarium to check out the tripped alarm. So what exactly is our mission then?"  
Raph fought his best to remain calm as he looked her in the eyes and spoke.  
"We need to retrieve the ooze from the evidence room at police headquarters."  
April tilted her head in confusion.  
"So you wanna break into police headquarters?"  
Sam nodded her head, doing her best to support Raph and make it seem like this was all normal and that everything was fine…and mentally praying that this all worked and that April wouldn't call Jay.  
Raph also nodded as he spoke.  
"Uhhh yeah. Donnie says we need more of the purple ooze to find Bebop and Rocksteady, and we're pretty sure it's locked up in the evidence control room by now."  
April continued to look skeptical.  
"Okay…and Leo is okay with this plan?"  
Raph paused, but then spoke with calmed confidence.  
"Actually I'm in charge on this one. Ain't that right Mikey?" he said, turning towards his youngest brother.  
"Errrr-RIGHT!" Mikey said with wide eyes that faced a concerned looking April.  
Sam rolled her eyes.  
"Okay that response doesn't count because he has no idea what's going on when food is in front of him."  
"Heyyy!" Mikey said, now facing his friend with sad eyes.  
"It's not an insult, just an honest truth" Sam said with a smile, handing her friend a napkin to clean all the food on his face.  
Mikey shrugged and took the napkin with a smile as Sam continued to talk.  
"Look, we split up into two teams just like Raph said. Leo and Donnie went after the area where Shredder and the mutants and the soldiers went to, and they left us here so that we could retrieve the ooze and keep it somewhere safe."  
"And that is?" Casey asked.  
"Underground with Professor Perry and the Mutanimals."  
"I'm sorry, who and what?"  
Sam sighed. "Professor Jordon Perry. He was forced to mutate a bunch of stolen animals using a man-made mutagen he had created 15 years earlier. This mutated all the animals so that Shredder could form a mutant army. All of them are now living safely underground and he and other scientists continued to study and hide all the mutagen that was anonymously sent to Shredder. That is where this new purple ooze belongs as well, and that's why we need to break into police headquarters to get it."  
April still seemed concerned about this plan, but her friends sounded serious (besides for Mikey who had literally been eating pizza the entire time) and she decided that this needed to be done.  
"Alright. So what's the plan?"  
Raph brought over the blue prints of the headquarters building and began explaining the plan to April and Casey about what each person would be doing. Meanwhile, Sam was stealing some of Mikey's pizza slices with a teasing smile.  
After hearing the entire plan be explained full way through, Casey formed a frustrated smile as he waved his hand in a means to signal his displeasure in what he had just heard.  
"Wait, I can't just walk right into police headquarters."  
Raph groaned. "What are you, chicken?"  
"Hey!" Casey stated as he stood up from his chair. "Who are you calling chicken? Turtle."  
Mikey rolled his eyes…and Sam stole another slice as he was distracted for that literal second.  
Raph lowered his voice, but not so low that it reached a menacing point.  
"Look. Do you want to find Bebop and Rocksteady, or not?"  
Casey paused as he thought this through, and Raph raised his brows as to say 'that's what I thought'.  
"So we're breaking into police headquarters" he said as he sat back down. "Oh wait. You're missing something. The access card for the evidence room."  
Sam tilted her head to the side. "What's that?"  
"You need an access card or else you can't get into the room."  
Sam thought about this. "Is this a card that specific people have? Or is this a card that every officer has?"  
"Every officer has that card and it has access to every room within the building."  
Sam nodded her head and looked up at Raph. "I'll hack into their system again as we head over to get Vern, wherever he is. I'll check their scheduling and see who is heading out. Hopefully they'll be isolated in the locker room and we can snatch a card from them. If that doesn't work" she then turned towards April, "then keep your phone close so I can update you in case we need to improvise."  
April nodded.  
"Alright. Is that everything?"  
Raph and Sam nodded.  
"I have all the devices we'll need in my backpack. The only thing we're missing right now is Vern. Can you contact him and-"  
"He's at a party at a park nearby" Mikey cut in.  
Sam looked over and blinked at him, surprised he had been paying any attention and that he had now provided information to further their plan. "And you know that how?"  
Mikey smiled as he turned the phone around and showed that he was looking at Vern's twitter page, and to Sam's amusement, it was her phone he was using.  
Sam frantically felt through the pockets of her hoodie. "When? How?"  
"Heh, you're not the only one good at stealing things when people aren't looking Sam" he said with a teasing smile.  
She nodded. "You're right. I'm also good at taking things bluntly." And with that she stole, yet again, another slice from him.

By 11:30p.m. everyone was now packing up and heading out the nearest exit…except for a confused Michelangelo.  
"Are we going somewhere?"  
Sam smiled and pulled at his arm for him to stand up.  
"Just follow along you dork" she said, her mouth still a bit full as she finished her last bite of the pizza slice.  
"How can you eat so much?" Casey asked as Sam switched out her mint green and pink jacket for a black colored one from her backpack.  
Mikey jumped in to defend Sam before she could even say anything.  
"Dude! She needs to eat, she's already thin as it is!"  
"What? She's not that thin" Casey replied.  
"*GASP* DID YOU JUST CALL HER FAT?!" Mikey shouted.  
"Wait what?! No of course not, but-"  
"Not cool man" Raph said as he glared and shook his head at Casey.  
"Oh come on! Obviously I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that she's not anorexically thin either! You guys make her out to be a twig!"  
"SO NOW YOU'RE SAYING SHE'S WEAK?!" Mikey shouted.  
Sam just walked behind the group, the tablet in her hand as she looked up information through the headquarters database, smiling silently as she walked next to April. The two were trying not to laugh and disrupt the interesting conversation that was happening in front of them.  
"Okay, okay! Sam is super physically fit and has the right amount of body weight for someone her age, okay?! That still doesn't explain how she can eat as much food as the 6 foot turtle next to her."  
"Excuse me sir, but I'm only 5'8!" Mikey announced.  
"Not the point! It's still insane that she can eat as much as someone who is larger than her!"  
"So now you're calling me fat?!"  
"Oh give him a break already" Sam said as she walked by Mikey and playfully shoved him.  
"Sam, you realize your shorts are mint green, right?" Mikey asked.  
Sam looked down and realized that she had switched to wearing a dark black jacket, but she had forgotten to change her shorts.  
"Oops. Thanks man. Here can you hold this?" she asked as she handed Mikey the tablet. She then swung her back pack around and unzipped it to pull out a pair of solid black Adidas shorts that covered the top of her hips and traveled down to cover her thighs, but wouldn't go so far down as to reach her knees.  
"Hey Raph hold this."  
Raph turned around just in time to catch the backpack that was beamed at his chest, though to him this was like catching a beach ball.  
Sam then started stripping her mint green shorts. Everyone was used to this, except for Casey of course.  
"Dude, give some warning first or something" Casey said as he covered his eyes.  
"What, you have a thing against awesome colored spandex?"  
Casey, taking a risk after hearing this, slowly removed his hand from his face and saw that the girl had been wearing a decently long pair of neon colors checkered with black spandex underneath her shorts. Basically she had been stripping, but nothing private was exposed.  
Casey just laughed and shook his head.  
"I guess this is normal to everyone else?"  
"Welcome to the life of living with a tomboy" Raph grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "Hurry up or I'm throwing this bag into a muddy puddle."  
"Alright I'm good" Sam said as Raph then tossed the backpack back to her. Mikey handed the tablet back to Sam and after a few more minutes she found the information she was looking for.  
"Alright. So there's four guys that will be leaving around the time we'll be getting there. Hopefully we can secretly get a card from one of them. That will make things a lot easier for all of us."

The group reached their destination around 11:35p.m. The manhole they were exiting to get back up to the surface lead to a small alley way that was on a street very close by to the party that Vern was attending.  
"I'll go get Vern, you guys stay close" April said. "Oh, and behave when you see him, please. He's not a bad guy, he's just a dork." And with that, April walked out of the alley and headed across the street to go get the last piece to their plan.  
Raph suddenly started climbing up to a higher position on the building in the alley.  
"Where are you going?" Casey asked.  
"It's hard to track her from here. It'll be easier to see her from higher up."  
Casey shrugged. "Alright, good call." He also started climbing up the ladders that lead to the roof of the building.  
Sam and Mikey decided to join the party and headed to the roof as well. The four continued to talk as they all watched April from afar, making sure that she was alright as she entered the crowded streets of the city.  
Mikey and Sam were in the back talking and goofing around while Casey and Raph stood along the edge of the building, watching April. Raph continued to look outward towards the open area as he talked.  
"Hey Sam, you updated Jay on what you're doing, right?"  
Sam paused and tried to act natural as she spoke.  
"What exactly do you mean by update?" she asked nervously.  
Mikey's eyes were as wide as Raph's. Raph turned around and now both brothers were staring at her in shocked frustration.  
"Sam!" Mikey shouted. "You know we won't do anything unless we know Jay is okay with it!"  
"I thought we made it clear that we want to keep his trust!" Raph bellowed.  
It was weird to see both of these two upset and gang up on someone over the same thing since usually they were ganging up on each other.  
Casey's curiosity cut Sam off before she could say anymore.  
"Wait, hold up. So she can't hang out with you guys unless her brother approves?"  
Raph looked over at the man while also putting an arm around Sam and putting her in a loose (or at least loose enough) one armed headlock.  
"She doesn't have to update him on when she hangs out with us, but she has to let him know when she's joining us on missions like this. And of course, typical Sam is trying to be sneaky by not telling him a damn thing."  
Raph ruffled the girl's hair (apparently one of her biggest weaknesses) and released her as she stood up tall to stare him straight in the eye.  
"Not cool man, not cool" she said as she pointed in his direction.  
"Text him now Sam" Raph said aloud as he turned back around to keep an eye on April.  
"Yeah, yeah" she mumbled as she turned around and then saw a moping Michelangelo.  
"*groan* ALRIGHT! I'm messaging him now" she replied to Mikey's amusement as he now threw his hands up to show he was happy with her decision.  
Only Casey saw that Raph was also smiling after he heard his friend say that she was going to contact her brother.  
"So, you can smile, even when you're not bullying other people" Casey mocked.  
Raph just rolled his eyes.  
"Congratulations, you want a prize for making your discovery?" Raph said in a sarcastic tone.  
"You're a tough book to read" Casey said, putting his hands behind his head.  
"What?" Raph asked in a rough tone.  
"You always act super tough, and I mean I get why, but I don't get why you ALWAYS have to be tough."  
"Because he's trying to impersonate Batman" Sam said in a low tone, to which she and Mikey then started imitating a bunch of their favorite fictional characters from different series, and then ranting about them, and then they totally were lost from the original conversation.  
Casey chuckled. "And I'm especially surprised you're not as tough after dealing with those two."  
Raph sighed. "I've always been the largest and the toughest out of my brothers. I felt like I was the largest for a reason you know. It made working out and getting exercise a lot easier for me. That and generally I've just always been this way. It's just easier to shut others out, you know, being the way we are."  
"So, you mean it's easier to push people away because you're mutants?" Casey asked with genuine curiosity since he was now actually really interested in this unexpected open side of Raph.  
Raph huffed. "People fear us, at least I'm pretty sure they would. So it's easier to keep people at bay rather than be let everyone in, create peace, all that shit."  
"But…you let April in, and then you let Sam and even Jay into your lives."  
Raph nodded. "At first I was totally against bringing April to our lair, but I got over it since Sensei wanted to meet her. That's when we learned that she was the reason we look like this now-"  
"And that's because?"  
"When we were normal turtles, she saved us from a fire at TCRI caused by Eric Sachs. Once we learned this, we all wanted to give her the chance to get to know us, and she's been family ever since. Sam…she's her own unique case."  
Casey noticed Raph roll his eyes as he took a deep breath.  
"So I guess the way she entered your lives was different from the way April did?"  
"Completely different. April found us, literally out of luck, and we handled that immediately. Sam found us because she used spy gear and then we had to chase after her for about a week. Then she fought us some in order to get away from us. Mikey's the main reason she's still around" he said as he turned around to see the two practicing back flips behind them.  
"Mikey was the only one that gave her a chance and accepted her apology for sneaking into and stealing from our home."  
"She stole from you guys?! Sam did? That girl over their who's basically glued to your brother's side?"  
"She's the one" Raph said with raised brows. "She stole a flash drive from Donnie that had literally every piece of information he has about us on it. Of course we got it back and everything was fine, but none of us wanted anything to do with her, except for Mikey who snuck out and met her the next day. The two became friends, we got into a scare when we couldn't reach him during a serious mission one night, Leo decided that the safest way for all of us to keep an eye on the two of them together was if we allowed her into the lair, and the rest is history. She's basically the quintuplet we never had."  
"So that's why you all look after her the same way you do to April? Because you see both of them as sisters?"  
Raph paused before he finally spoke again. He didn't realize it, but Casey saw that Raph had closed his eyes during this pause.  
"We all made regretful decisions when we discovered that Sam was in the Foot clan. We didn't know why she had joined or how long she had been a member, but our instincts lead us to make our decisions the night we found out even though we didn't know or understand anything about her situation. We all made regretful choices that night, especially me. None of us can ever truly forget about it, and we all hate who we were when it all happened. Sometimes the four of us even have nightmares about what happened and sometimes they're about what could have happened as well. So we all do our best to make sure it never happens again. We got to know her pretty well before the Foot fell, but we all became ten times closer afterwards."  
"I understand all that, but I still don't get the personality switch. You know, going from 'I'm going to kick your ass' to 'tell your brother where you are cause he'll get worried'."  
Raph snickered at the man's comparison.  
"To the average person, I'm always the 'I'll kick your ass guy', but only people that truly care will stick around long enough to see that that's not the only side of me. I said I've always grown up as the tough one, but I never said that's the only thing I grew up as. April grew attached to us pretty quickly, and just as fast she started treating us like an older sister would treat her kid brothers. I love her but man she nags about us taking care of ourselves so freaking much. But, it's also nice to have someone who cares so much, you know? Sam was basically the same way. Mikey became her best friend pretty much over night, but the rest of us were tough one her, but she never gave up. She stuck around and took the time to get to know each of us, and we all have things in common with her. They both know how to talk to us in ways when our other brothers can't, and with Sam specifically, there are times where we go to her because we literally can't go to anyone else, that or there have been times where everyone else shoots you down and she makes sure you're not alone when it's known you don't want to be. She can sense things like that."  
Casey smiled up at the large turtle.  
"So does that mean your brother's know these sides to you as well?"  
"Oh yeah. They know not to joke about it though. Heh, they learned that early on when we were kids. But all four of us pretty much know EVERYTHING about the others, but like most guys, we just don't bring light to it. But there are times where each of us may surprise the others. Sam's lead Mikey to reveal some new sides to him we had never seen before."  
Casey nodded his head. All of this information was so mind-blowing to him. Just like Raph had said, when you first saw him, you thought that he hated the world and everyone in it, yet here he was watching over April to make sure that she reached Vern safely, and then he was also harping on Sam to make sure that her brother knew of her whereabouts. He just never imagined that someone so rough looking could actually be so caring and genuine. For a second, he also thought it was interesting how Mikey seemed like an overly laid back person who never had any idea what was going on, yet he also became worried and protective when telling Sam to text Jay about what she was doing.  
_"Well, they do say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Man did I judge these books the wrong way" _he thought to himself.

"There's April with Vern" Raph stated, pulling Casey away from his thoughts.  
He then saw the devilish grin on Raph's face as April and Vern entered the alley way.  
"Alright. We'll get this show on the road right after I talk to our friend the falcon."  
Earlier his menacing voice was used more so in a playful way. But not this time, this time he sounded pissed.  
Raph began making his way down towards the ground, and as Casey followed, he wondered how much more interesting this night was going to get.  
Raph jumped down behind April and a startled Vern.  
A cocky and slightly annoyed smile formed on his face. "Well, well, well. If it ain't the prince of the city."  
Vern rolled his eyes.  
"Oh give me a break Raph. You're the one who told me to take credit for Shredder in the first place. And now in light of the fact that he is who knows where, I'm starting to have profound regrets about this arrangement."  
"Well we can always fix that" Sam said as she now leapt down and stood next to Raph.  
"Hey Vern."  
"Hey Sam and um what do you mean by that exactly?"  
Sam smirked at him. "You were chosen because you're one of the few people who knows everything about the Foot, the mutants, EVERYTHING, even though you had nothing to do with the fall of the clan last year, so people put their trust in you that you would cause a distraction so that all the people trying to hide from the Foot could do so. But if you're not doing a good job at convincing the city it was you, we can always find someone else" she said with a confident smile.  
"Pshh, I can handle this I'm fine, totally fine" Vern said, not realizing just how timid he sounded.  
"Where's Mikey?" Raph asked.  
"On his way, once he finishes his push-ups because he lost to me in arm wrestling."  
Now it was Casey's turn to talk.  
"Soooooo are we just gonna stand around and talk, or?" he asked, his arms crossed over his chest.  
Mikey now leapt down and was walking behind Vern.  
"Who's this guy?" Vern asked, a slightly annoyed tone coming from him.  
Mikey walked up to Casey and then began to back away with his hands up.  
"Total loser bro. I mean, nice enough fella, if you like guys who can't even bench press. Boom!" he said, throwing his arm down in front of him.  
"Heh, yeah. Or even fill out a t-shirt" Vern added, which also received a chuckle and a fist bump from Mikey.  
Usually Sam didn't care when she heard other guys compete like this, and she didn't care if the guys or anyone else showed their interest in April, but she knew that's why these two dorks were making the comments that they were. It never really affected her before, but right now she wasn't in the mood to hear it. So while they tried to impress a beautiful woman, she decided to get her phone and earphones out and started listening to who she deemed as some of the most gorgeous men in the universe, BTS. Everyone was so caught up in the main conversation that no one really noticed her take a few steps back and just chill against the wall nearby.  
April continued the main conversation.  
"Vern, he's a part of the plan."  
"What plan is that?" Vern asked, amused at all that was going on.  
"The plan to…break into police headquarters" April said nervously, biting her lip.  
"….What?" Vern displayed a 'wtf' face spot on.  
"We need to find Shredder."  
"We? No, no. We're not doing this." Vern then started to just babble on. "Listen, I'd love to help you guys out but I can't. I got, you know-"  
Mikey, who sensed that Vern was just messing around at this point, decided to do the same to him as he leaned in and started touching the key on the chain around the man's neck.  
"Whoaaaaa, sweet key bro. Does it go to something?"  
Vern swatted his hand away.  
"No it's just the key to the city" he said in a low and flustered voice.  
"Vern," Casey cut in, "As the resident new guy in this band of freaky misfits, I say you should do yourself a favor, and just roll with it.  
Taken aback, Vern attempted to defend himself.  
"Hey new guy! All I do is roll with it. I've been rolling with it since you were wearing baby t-shirts because you were a baby-"  
Raph stepped up towards Vern so that he was practically in front of his face, or more so Vern was in front of Raph's chest since the turtle towered over the human man.  
"Police Headquarters. 30 minutes. Put this flash drive in one of their computers. Do whatever you need so that the cops at the front desk don't pay attention to April and Casey as they walk into the building. Once they're in you can leave. You better be there."  
Raph forcefully handed the drive to Vern and then walked away before the man could say another word.  
Casey was the next to leave.  
"See you there" he said triumphantly.  
Mikey was the next to leave. He got close to Vern, and with a tantalizing voice and expression repeated the phrase "see you there."  
"He just said that" Vern mumbled.  
He turned around to see April standing there with her arms up.  
"Don't worry guys! I'll get Sam and make sure she's okay!"  
The three walking away stopped, looked around them to see that Sam wasn't there, and then turned back towards April with wide eyes. Raph and Mikey grumbled, Raph more so because Sam was wasting time, and Mikey more so because his friend has just snuck away (not really) and didn't say anything.  
Raph was about to storm over and grab her, but April put her hand up to signal that she would get Sam, knowing that if Raph was overly harsh then they would never even get to headquarters.  
April carefully maneuvered around a dancing Sam as she danced to DOPE and pulled an earphone from the girl's ear.  
Sam faced her and then saw that no one else was there.  
"Oh, did we tell Vern that-"  
"Everything's been taken care of" April kindly said with a smile.  
Sam pursed her lips and nodded. "Alright." She then quickly ran over to Vern and stated in a low voice, "see you there" before running off and catching up with the guys as Mikey and Raph gently shoved her for doing what she did.  
"They already…said that, ugh" Vern mumbled in annoyance.  
"Good" April said as she walked by the man, "then that means you know where to be."

Everyone started heading towards their spot for the plan, and soon after, the plan was set in motion. It was five minutes after midnight when Vern set the plan in motion as he entered the police station and distracted the cops while the turtles and Sam were in the vents using the tablet to set up the device that would connect to the flash drive Vern just inserted into the computer. April and Casey entered the building mere seconds later, but the group in the vents was able to get everything to connect just in time so that the two down below were given access into the building. April and Casey then made their way throughout the building to where the evidence room was while the three up top moved around the vents to get to the locker room. Raph and Mikey had to awkwardly but successfully maneuver themselves to snatch an access card from an officer who was taking off his gear from work that day, and then not even a minute later Mikey was dropping the card down through a vent opening to April who was standing below it.  
Sam was now using the tablet to gain access to the cameras in the evidence room to see if anyone was there and then to adjust them so that no one would ever know that Casey and April had ever been in the room. She sent a message to the two saying that it was clear and that the cameras had been altered, so April swiped the card to enter the room…but that's when two Foot soldiers came rushing out, though they stopped for a second, stunned that someone had found them.  
Mikey gasped out loud.  
"What's wrong?!" Raph called out.  
"Foot soldiers!" Mikey cried out.  
"What?! But they're-" Sam cut herself off as her eyes went wide. "There was no proof…"  
"What?!" Raph bellowed.  
"I assumed they were gearing up to follow Shredder and the mutants to the museum, but they were really heading here instead" she stated in a worried tone, her hands now behind her neck while the three remained in the vents.  
"They just got past April and Casey, we need to move!" Mikey called out.  
"Sam stop pouting and get down there! Mikey and I will get to the exit and cut them off there" Raph bellowed, his voice even louder in the vents.  
"Are you crazy?! We can't be seen!" Mikey shouted in reply.  
"That purple ooze is our last chance at being normal, and it's about to walk right out the front door" he sternly said.  
"Be careful" Sam stated, though the guys probably didn't hear with how loud they were as they moved quickly through the noisy vents.  
Sam pushed down the vent opening and quickly hoisted herself down to the ground. She pulled her hood up and luckily she already had her black surgical mask on, so she was all ready to go.

She saw 3 soldiers running away and she sped throughout the debris left behind from the soldiers to try and catch up to them.  
She caught up to the first soldier and whipped out her tonfa as she ran up and leapt from a desk and leapt over the soldier. She lightly hit his head since he had dodged as he heard her coming up from behind him, but she was able to quickly pivot on her left leg and kick him with her right. Now these fights with the Foot weren't going to be as easy since Shredder had much more skilled ninjas working for him now. Sam had to quickly get back into position after she landed her kick because the soldier was already up and swinging at her. The soldier then pulled out his own set of tonfa and the two seemed to fight for what seemed like forever, neither being able to find a weakness in the other and always dodging or blocking the blow coming from the other. Sam thought she needed to change things up and ended up launching a rolling chair at him, and since this wasn't something light or thin enough for the man to cut through, he had to dodge, and this left a split second opportunity for Sam to run up and slide to trip the man and then knee him in the face on his way down.  
_"Man that took way longer than I expected it to" _Sam thought to herself. _"I need to hurry up and catch up with the others."  
_She wasn't sure which direction she was supposed to go in since there were multiple different hallways within the building, but she assumed she was supposed to run in the direction of a huge crash that she had just heard. She had only taken a few steps before she decided to retreat and hide because she saw a bunch of police officers, including Jade and Chief Vincent, run by as well. Sam watched them as she carefully hid behind a toppled over desk. At times like this she was grateful that she was so much smaller than the turtles. The larger group then started running towards another large crash, but this time it sounded like glass shattering.  
"Oh shit…" Sam whispered to herself as she put her tonfa back into her bag and then started sprinting towards the crash.  
She felt a lump in her throat when she then heard Leo's voice, and then right after that hearing multiple officers yelling at someone to put their hands up and freeze. She heard Raph's voice to, and she knew that all four of them had to be in there. Why Leo and Donnie were here, she had no idea, but that wasn't the point. Her friends were in danger and she needed to do something about it.  
"FREEZE"  
"DON'T MOVE"  
"Wait we're the good guys!"  
"GET ON THE GROUND NOW!"  
Just as Sam slid in, her hood still up and her mask still on (thank god) the two turtles in the front had just begun to kneel down on the ground.  
She stood in front of the two. She was so focused on the terrified expressions of the officers in front of her that couldn't sense the wide eyed looks of the four turtles behind her.  
Sam would be a liar if she said she wasn't terrified right now as well. She had no plan, no idea what she was doing, but something in her boggled mind right now told her that standing between the turtles and the officers was the safest move, for her friends that is.  
"GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!" an officer yelled at her.  
Sam was about to announce her ex Foot code, hoping the situation when encountering the officers on the highway would repeat itself here.  
"Get down on the ground!" Jade shouted. Sam looked her right in the eye and she knew Jade recognized her, and the fact that she shouted this meant that no one else here knew about the code, so they all were really screwed right now.  
"You're making a mistake-"  
"They're monsters, she's working with monsters!" one of the male officers shouted with furry.  
"We're not monsters…" Mikey mumbled from behind.

Sam couldn't explain what happened to her next. She never saw Mikey's face, but his voice told her everything she needed to know. This officer hurt her best friend. This officer was scaring her best friend. This is something Mikey wouldn't forget anytime soon, even if he did act like he was alright. This would leave an emotional scar on his heart and would emotionally affect how much he wanted to join the human world while also lowering his own personal morale. And the fact that Mikey was this hurt, this would then kill the rest of the brothers since they would feel like they couldn't protect him. That and they all themselves would have to deal with their own personal struggles once they got back to the lair. Sam heard Raph sigh and knew that he was already beating himself up for allowing this to happen, especially on his watch when he finally had a chance to take charge. She could still lightly hear the sound of Donnie breathing which showed how nervous and scared he truly was as he lived out one of his greatest fears for both him and his entire family. Leo couldn't be heard at all at the moment, but Sam knew that he was fuming on the inside, both for the fact that his brothers and she didn't listen to his orders, but also because he wondered if he had handled things any differently then maybe none of this would be happening.

They couldn't protect Mikey, and none of them could protect themselves at this very moment, so she would. She would keep them safe. She didn't know what was happening to her or why, but she felt an energy build up and she knew that she just had to protect them.  
No one could see her smirk as she said in a low voice "monsters huh? I'll show you a monster."  
Her eyes went blue and black. Her face and voice revealed a sinister expression and tone that no one in the room had ever seen or hear before, and without her even moving, a huge gust of wind came from her body. All the officers in front of her were slammed against the wall behind them.  
"NO!" April and Casey were both shouting as they now ran into the room.  
"Guys you need to go now!" April yelled as she stood in front of Sam, who had now ceased the wind after hearing April and Casey's voice.  
Leo and Donnie sensed that the officers next to each of them were stunned and frozen after what they had just seen, and they quickly knocked their weapons out of their hands before dashing through the now open window, since they had broken the glass minutes before.  
Raph swooped up Sam and practically threw the girl over his shoulder and he and Mikey chased after their other two brothers.

Eventually they reached a spot in the sewer where they placed Sam down to check her out, and her eyes had still been blue. Each of the turtles started saying all types of gibberish to get her to calm down, but when Mikey mumbled something to her, she finally returned to her normal state. Besides for this, nothing else was said until the group got back to the lair. Even after everything they had just seen at headquarters, they knew the real fight had yet to start. 

**So I'll admit that for the police headquarters scene, I didn't put anywhere near as much detail about this part of the story as I usually do only because I start college classes again on Monday, and it's like 2:30a.m. Sunday morning. I so badly wanted to get through the Out of the Shadows arc over winter break, but sadly I was not able to do that. :/  
Don't worry, THIS STORY IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE, but it will be while before I start updating again. If I'm lucky I can update throughout the semester, but it will barely be anything at all. But since this was a scene from the film, I more so quickly summarized it rather than explain in detail and add subplot to it since I wanted to get to more important stuff that happens later on in the chapter. Hopefully that's okay with you guys .**

**Again I WILL BE BACK I PROMISE. If it means anything to those who might think "oh people say that and then they never return", I said the same thing when the Fall semester started, and yet I came back and got some work uploaded within the month that I was off. I swear on my life when I say that I have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much in store for this series, but sadly I must go on a writing break so that I can complete my course work. **

**For those that leave views/kudos or bookmark the story or leave comments, thank you all so very much. The fact that I can share all these thoughts that swim around in my head with others is such an incredible feeling, and I'd like to give a special shout out to LordoftheNerds97 for all your support. To anyone who has supported me and this story in any way, thank you all so much. It means the world to me to share this with you, so please be looking forward to more chapters in the future. Even if it takes me years to complete this entire series, the chapters will continue to be produced **


	8. Chapter 35

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #35

***Early morning Sunday June 7****th****, 2015. Just returning to the lair at 1a.m.***

****As soon as it was confirmed that Sam was alright, everything went silent. Like, as incredibly super awkwardly dead silent as silent could get. And the worst part, everyone's body language displayed that there was A LOT that they all wanted to say, but no one wanted to start the verbal war that was brewing. So many thoughts and feelings were on everyone's mind: sadness, anger, fear, betrayal. Sam was just hoping that maybe this silence would allow things to calm down some before everyone started sharing how they felt, but sadly that wasn't the case. As soon as Splinter's voice was heard, the war begun. Hearing their father's terrified and shaken voice, the boys were officially set off.

Splinter turned around as soon as he sensed his sons enter the room.  
"It is all over the police scanner. They're hunting you! What happened up there?"  
Leo and Raph were now fuming as they stormed in side by side. Sam had been sulking in the back next to Michelangelo as the two slowly made their way into the lair behind a nervously storming Donatello.  
"Tell him Raph. Tell him how you broke rent and got us all exposed!" Leo announced as he snatched the canister from Raph and held it up to their father as he passed by. "And for the most selfish of reasons."  
Sam felt guilt as Raph was blamed for being the sole reason the events that had taken place that night went so sour.  
Raph rolled his eyes and tried to defend his case.  
"The Foot were gonna get their hands on it!" he shouted in a frustrated manner, his face revealing how much he was trying to justify all that had gone wrong.  
"You didn't know that!"  
"We had a plan where we wouldn't have gotten caught…" Sam thought to herself…at least she thought she thought it to herself.  
Leo and Raph both stopped walking and slowly turned around to face Sam who had been walking slowly behind the rest of the group. Leo looked furious while Raph looked worried, not wanting Sam to deal with the same bs arguments that he knew he would receive from Leo. Donnie stared at her in shock while Mikey looked off into the distance, trapped in his own depressed thoughts.  
"What?" Leo asked in a low but furious voice.  
Sam paused as she realized that she had verbally shared her thoughts by accident. She sighed, realizing that there was no way of escaping this one.  
"Raph didn't come up with this plan alone. I thought Shredder was planning on bringing his soldiers with him to the museum, so I thought tonight was a good time to retrieve the ooze from-"  
"So you took advantage of Raph?" Leo interrupted.  
Sam just stood there with a blank expression except for her raised brows.  
"I did what now?"  
Leo narrowed his eyes. "So you knew that Raph was upset about not getting to be human and so you used him for your own reasons to get the ooze."  
Sam bit her lip to prevent herself from saying something nasty.  
"The only thing I took advantage of was a good opportunity to take back something that should have already been in our hands."  
Donnie now nervously stormed over and into the conversation as he mildly panicked with his hands behind his back.  
"But your plan included stealing from police headquarters! When stealing from police headquarters there's no scenario where you wouldn't get caught!" he announced.  
"Everything would have been fine if the soldiers had been where I thought they'd be" Sam said sternly as she fought not to glare at Donnie.  
Raph on the other hand was already in Donnie's face as he shouted at him "well maybe none of this would have been an issue if you hadn't lied to your own flesh and blood!"  
Now it was Donnie's eyes who were glued to the ground as a wave of guilt had washed over him. Raph was right, maybe if he had told the group as a whole then maybe the discussion of the ooze would have ended differently and the group being split up would never have happened. His actions could have played a role in changing what had happened tonight, and he felt terrible knowing that his excitement of his earlier discovery had distracted him from thinking through every scenario of how he should have handled sharing the news, and this crushed him.

Donnie slowly walked away and into his lab after his older brother had shouted at him.  
Then it was Leo's turn to shout once again.  
"Just like how you lied to April? And now she's taking the fall for your mess" Leo said in a harsh tone as he faced Raph.  
Raph paused as his older brother's words sank in. He HATED to admit that Leo was right, and he would spend days defending his decision to retrieve the ooze the way they had if he needed to, but he knew this statement about April was true. He had gotten her involved in something she didn't know the full story about, and now she was suffering because of his decisions. Raph rolled his eyes and sighed as he walked away towards the direction of his room.

Sam sighed as she stood outside Donnie's lab. She wasn't sure which brother she should go talk to first since both had made it clear how hurt they were because of their decisions, but her decision was made up after she saw her best friend sit down and mutter "You should have seen the looks on their faces…"  
Leo was watching over his youngest brother, though there was still a scowl on his face. Splinter however was listening with concern, just as Sam was.  
"They weren't just scared. There was…actual hate" Mikey stated as he looked up at his father with his scared and saddened bright blue eyes.  
Sam looked up and noticed Leo shake his head and walk out of the room as he headed towards the exit tunnel near the living room.  
Splinter put his hand on Mikey's shoulder.  
"It is alright my son. People fear what they do not understand" he said in a sympathetic tone.  
Splinter then quickly walked away to chase after his oldest son before he could escape the lair.  
Sam was still standing outside the closed off lab as she stared at her best friend. She couldn't stand to see him this way, and it crushed her to know that he had heard what that officer said. He called them monsters. What the hell did he know? In Sam's eyes, someone like Shredder was a monster, yet the officer had treated Mikey and the others as if they were the same as Shredder. It disgusted her. It enraged her. But she didn't want to cause another scene (whatever the hell that first one back at headquarters even was) and so she took a deep breath and calmed herself. She knew that if she wanted to cheer up her best friend, then she would have to be calm and cheery as well.

Sam walked over and crouched down in front of Mikey who was now slumped against the raised pipe in the middle of the room.  
"Hey" she said softly.  
The only reaction Mikey responded with was moving his eyes up so that he could acknowledge her presence and muttering again that "they called us monsters…", and then he returned to looking down at the ground.  
_"Man, this is worse than I thought. Come one Sam, think of something! Hell I'll probably start crying if I see him like this any longer. Prove he's better than what he thinks he is!"  
_That's when an idea popped into her head.  
"Hey, so in my Psychology class we learned some cools things like reading peoples futures through their palms and things like that. Mind if I read your palm and see what it says about you?" she asked gently and with a small smile.  
Mikey sighed. "Yeah. Go for it" he said as he still looked down at the ground.  
Sam quickly took his right hand and removed the bandages wraps and orange wires he wore so that his hand was naked. She then placed her left hand under his to keep it steady and then used her fingers on her right hand to trace over his palm.  
"You see, this one is your heart line. And there's your life line. That one's your fate line, and right there is your head line…Hmm, that's weird" Sam hummed.  
"What's wrong?" Mikey said, now in a more slightly panicked state as he stared at her with wide eyes.  
Sam looked at Mikey's palm questioningly as she moved his hand all around.  
"I learned how to search for all different types of signs…but I don't see any monster lines" she said as she looked up at him with a smile.  
Mikey's frantic expression then faded into a calmed one, and for the first time in what felt like hours, he began to smile. He felt so lucky to know that this girl was his best friend and that she always knew what to say to cheer him up.  
"Thanks Sam" he said as he placed both her hands in his.  
Sam nodded. "I know, I'm freaking awesome. You don't have to tell me" Sam teased.  
This got Mikey laughing as he then pulled her forward for a hug.

"I don't know what to do Master Splinter! Donnie's nose is in his computer, Raph's brains are in his biceps, and Mikey's head's in the clouds! I can't get them all on the same page, to think with one mind!" Leo shouted to his father (not knowing he had an audience) from the other room.

Sam and Mikey sighed simultaneously.  
"Doesn't sound like he's calmed down yet" Donnie said as he reappeared from his lab and then sat down at his computer station.  
Sam turned around to face Donnie, although he couldn't see her since he was facing his screens.  
"Hey D. You okay?"  
Donnie sighed. "I'll be fine. I've had worse arguments with my brothers before. This is minor compared to those." He then paused and spun his chair around. "Look, Mikey-"  
"It's fine dude" Mikey interrupted as he shook his head. "Leo gave you an order and you followed it. You were in a tough spot between doing what he told you to do and hiding from me and Raph. It would have been a tough choice for me too."  
Donnie was finally able to form a smile as well.  
"Thanks Mikey. Means a lot."  
Sam could sense that these two were already starting to cheer up some and return to normal. Splinter was calming Leo, so that just left Raph.  
"Hey, I'm gonna go see how dauntless is doing" Sam said as she stood up and placed her hand on Mikey's shoulder.  
Mikey nodded as he continued to sit, deciding that it was best if he and Donnie stayed where they were now that they were helping each other cool off.

Sam walked down the hall and saw that Raph's door was cracked. She knocked, but got no response, so she slowly pushed the door open and looked away at first (providing privacy if it was needed) and when she heard nothing, she looked up at saw Raph just lying on his back on his bed.  
Sam walked in and shut the door behind her.  
"What's on your mind?" Sam asked as she lay down at the end of his bed since there was enough space for her to do so.  
"I fucked up big time" Raph grumbled as he squeezed a hand grip weight in his right hand.  
"No, WE fucked up big time. You weren't the only one who came up with that plan" Sam stated as she basically curled up in the fetal position as her knees came up to her chest. Somehow this had always been her most comfortable sleeping position.  
"…you didn't have to do that you know…" Raph grumbled.  
"Do what?"  
"Stick up for me back there. I was the one that was pushing Leo over his limits, you could have just let the blame fall on me. I'm the one that started the whole argument once I figured out what the purple ooze could do."  
Sam nodded while she continued to lay down.  
"You had every right to be upset, though I think Leo would have handled things better if you hadn't come charging at him the way you did…well technically yesterday night since its Sunday morning now. But I had my motives for joining you in creating a plan in secret rather than talking you out of it. I'm to blame just as much as you are."  
Raph grunted as he sat up.  
"But you don't deserve to have Leo yelling at you the way he does to us. He's been strict with you but he never talks to you like that" Raph stated in a serious and angered tone.  
Sam gave a small smile with a chuckle.  
"He's my brother too now Raph, it's going to happen. You know that when he goes off like that it's just because he cares. He tried to make decisions to protect everyone else, he just doesn't realize that sometimes those decisions do more harm than good."  
Raph closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  
"I know. Sadly that's something he and I have in common. I know I'm more sensitive like Mikey, but Leo's always been like me and been rough in showing the ways he cares. Heh, knowing him he probably hates how he ended our argument earlier-"  
"Yesterday, its tomorrow now."  
Raph rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Point is, he's probably killing himself that those were his ending words. But, it'll pass. Things will be fine. We've all had worse fights before. Right now I'm more worried about April than anything. I can't believe we got her locked up. She's not like me and my brothers. She has a life outside of these sewers and we could have potentially just stolen that life from her…" he said as his voice got lower as he remembered seeing April and Casey put their hands behind their heads and kneel onto the ground, both put in a situation where the brothers could do nothing but run away even though their human friends were in a time of need.  
Sam clutched her hands around her knees tighter.  
"Yeah, I feel horrible about that too. But I know we'll make it right somehow. The good thing is that she's not alone. At least she has Casey with her, and I'm sure he'll do everything he can to help her out."  
Raph formed a small smile on his face.  
"I gotta admit, the guys not as bad as I thought. He had the guts to work with us and risk his job, and then he risked that and his life when he came in to help defend us. He's alright."  
As Raph thought about April and Casey defending his family from the cops, he then thought of Mikey's sorrow filled words when the cop called them all monsters, and this then lead him to thinking about when he had yelled at Donnie once they returned home. Raph felt worse about yelling at Donnie. Donatello was interesting when it came to loud aggressive verbal arguments. He had no trouble breaking up others arguing, and depending on the situation he would even loudly share his own thoughts on the topic, but as soon as someone came blaring at him, he would snap. He would either sulk and hide away like a young child, or he would become enraged and would switch over from good cop to bad cop and would go all out to the point he was like a whole new person. Strong verbal arguments always sent him far left or far right, never onto a middle ground, and Raph knew that this time Donnie had felt the more depressed side of the spectrum.  
"How are Donnie and Mikey doing?" Raph asked timidly.  
Sam then began to smile again. She found it interesting how Raph would show his emotions in such an aggressive manner, but then would switch over to this more soft and concerned character who was afraid he had been too tough on his brothers.  
"Don't worry. I talked to Mikey and he's feeling better, and once Donnie was able to go off on his own for a bit, he calmed himself down as well. Don and Mikey were talking about how they were put in some tough spots of what was and wasn't considered betrayal."  
Raph nodded.  
"I know it's not Donnie's fault, Leo put him in a tough spot. I shouldn't have yelled at him like that."  
Sam gently kicked Raph's leg from where she was lying down.  
"Stop being so harsh on yourself. I've seen you act way more over the top towards him, and the fact that he calmed himself so quickly means that it didn't bother him that much. He's as tough as the rest of you, both the youngest are. They also don't dread about things as much as you and Leo, but I also think that's because their minds already wander back to other important things before they can continue to think dreadful thoughts. Maybe it's an older brother vs younger brother thing. But point being, they're both okay."  
Raph smiled.  
"Thanks Sam, for helping Mikey…and for me I guess" Raph grumbled towards the end, pretending to put on his 'I don't care' act to make himself look tougher.  
Sam pursed her lips as she looked up at him.  
"Great apology. Always been one of your best qualities" she stated sarcastically.  
Raph just playfully waved her away as he now got a good look as how she was lying down.  
"How the heck is that comfortable for you?" he said, nudging her with his foot.  
"There's something about this position that is incredibly soothing" Sam said as she held herself tight like she was cuddling herself.  
Raph then shifted out of the bed and began to walk over towards the door.  
"Guess I should still apologize for yelling at Don and for putting Mikey in the situation that I did."  
_"Guys! I got something!" _Donnie's voice echoed as Raph had just opened up his bedroom door.  
"Or I guess I can tell them later."  
"Good call" Sam said as she kicked her legs up and literally rolled backwards out of the bed and then rushed behind Raph as the two made their way back into the central part of the lair.

Leo had just rushed over and was now standing to the right of Donnie, and Mikey had stood up and was now standing to Donnie's left. Raph walked over so that he was standing next to Leo's left, and then Sam stood between Raph and Mikey.  
"Talk to me Donnie" Leo started.  
"The computer has pinpointed the isotopic signature from the purple ooze. I can track Bebop and Rocksteady's exact coordinates."  
He continued to type away on his keyboard and turn dials as he talked.  
"Got it! They're at 36,000 feet traveling at 490 knots!" Donnie announced.  
"Whoaaaa, they've achieved the power of flight!" Mikey stated as he then crossed his arms and nodded his head. "Good for them you know."  
Raph and Sam looked at each other with pursed lips as they nodded their heads, impressed that Mikey was actually able to put that information together and understand that this meant that Bebop and Rocksteady were in the air. Leo and Donnie were both trying to contain laughs and maintain their small grins as they also shared a look with each other.  
"They're on a plane Mikey."  
"…Oh" Mikey said in defeat, though receiving a pat on the back from Sam, which then brought his smile back.  
"It looks like our mutant buddies are heading to Brazil."  
"How do we get there?" Leo asked.  
"We sneak onto the next cargo plane from JFK" Donnie replied.

Leo sensed eyes on him as he turned and confirmed this sense as he saw Sam and Mikey staring at him, as if they were waiting for an answer to something. That's when he realized they were asking for permission to let Sam join them.  
"No way" he stated bluntly.  
"But!-"  
"We need her" Donnie stated, also bluntly.  
All heads turned towards Donnie in shock of him going against Leo's orders, especially after all they had witnessed after one brother had disobeyed their orders.  
Leo shook his head rapidly.  
"Donnie no, it's too-"  
"If things go sour in the air then we'll need her powers Leo. Sam can help keep us safe in the air if we need it."  
Leo paused as he thought over Donnie's words. He thought about the small chance that the plane crashed and something like their parachutes malfunctioning happened, Sam could literally be the factor that determines their life or death. As slight as these chances may have been, they were chances that might need Sam to use her powers to help glide them downwards from that high up.  
Leo sighed.  
"Alright Sam. Go with Donnie to gear up and-"  
"YESSSSS! Awwww this is gonna be awesome!" Sam said as she was mid-way in giving an excited Mikey a high-five.  
"ONLY if you contact Jay first" Leo and Raph said simultaneously.  
"Ughhh alright, alright" Sam groaned as she walked towards the dojo to gain some privacy for her call.  
Donnie then searched in his lab for all the materials the group would need in case of any emergencies that might occur while they were on the plane.  
Meanwhile, Mikey was watching as Leo and Raph were looking downwards in worry.  
"Aww relax bro's! Sam will be fine!" Mikey reassured, though he didn't get the reaction back that he was expecting.  
"She's your best friend, I thought you'd care more about making sure she makes cautious and careful choices" Leo said sternly.  
Mikey pursed his lips.  
"I'm always cautious dude. But I can't watch over her if she's not by my side. She's safer with us than running off by herself."  
"Usually I'd agree, but this is different" Raph stated gruffly.  
"That's why we have all this" Donnie said as he now walked out of the lab and laid a bunch of different materials down on the table in front of where all his computers were. "Before we leave we need to make sure all of us know how to use these materials. These will be used for safety precautions."  
Donnie had all types of parachutes and cables and all sorts of materials laid on the table.  
"Then let's start the demonstrations now!" Sam announced as she jogged back into the room.  
"What did Jay say?" Donnie asked.  
"You're all his clones" Sam scowled.  
"Better believe it. Now what did he say?" Donnie pushed.  
"He said to be careful and to contact him if anything happens okay?" Sam said rather quickly. "Now let's get things moving! We have bad guys to catch and…I don't really know anything else except that. I also just realized I have no idea why they're in Brazil…why are we going to Brazil?" Sam asked in a childish tone.  
"Oh, right. Sorry, I just realized that only Leo and I know about this. At the museum we discovered this huge boulder like object that had been tampered with. The material of the rock contained neutronium which can be used to rupture the space time continuum and, if Shredder wanted to, he could open a portal to another dimension."  
Sam's eyes went wide.  
"I'm assuming there's something in Brazil that aides in this portal being opened?"  
"We don't know for sure, but regardless, they went to Brazil to retrieve something, and we need to intercept their pick-up."  
"Then let's get going already" Raph urged.

Donnie then showed the rest of the group how to attach different pieces of equipment to themselves and how to work other materials. After everyone was done testing and using the materials, they all packed up and attached any and all important pieces of equipment to themselves and loaded into the turtle truck as Donnie quickly drove them down to the airport.  
It was only 2:30a.m. when they arrived, but they needed to travel while it was still dark out, or else they would easily be spotted if they tried to load into a plane once it was bright out. They parked the truck in a brush filled area about 20 minutes away from the airport and then carefully moved on foot to a cargo plane that had been scheduled to leave around 5a.m later that morning. Once everyone made it on board and was settled, it was time to play the waiting game. At this point they all decided to find a comfy spot to rest and relax, knowing that once the plane was off the ground and moving, they would need to be alert and ready for when their next battle would begin.

**SURPRISE! Somehow I was able to type up and upload a chapter. Right now I'm sort of at a decent homework spot where if I get enough homework done within each day then I can spend short time periods every dew nights working on my story, if I'm lucky enough to get those moments. **

**Hopefully this short chapter was still a nice continuation to what happened last chapter, and I hope you all are still enjoying the story overall! **

**Oh, and quick shout out to "****another-tmnt-writer****" on Tumblr. They're the one that came up with that palm reading bit when Mikey is upset about being called a monster, and I loved when I read that small one-shot online and asked if I could include it in this story. Reading it online I just felt like it matched Mikey and Sam's friendship spot on. So if you ever see this, thank you very much "****another-tmnt-writer****"! :D**


	9. Chapter 36

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #36

***Sunday June 7****th****, 2015. Hiding on the plane before the flight leaves at 5a.m.***

****The group still had a few hours before their flight would be ready to leave for Brazil, so they each decided to sit back and relax for the time being, knowing that things would be active and intense once they all finally caught up with Bebop and Rocksteady.  
Leo chose this time to meditate, though he could sense that this would eventually lead to sleep anyway since he hadn't slept in a while (in general all their sleep schedules were out of whack since they "worked" all throughout the night while also getting things done during the day). Raph, like usual, was working out to a certain extent as he scrunched his hand grip weights and rotated using it from one hand and then back to the other. Overall the group had to be silent so that no one checked the already packed plane, and these two handled this very well…the other three, not so much.  
Donnie would have been fine on his own as he tinkered away with some of his devices in his pack, but Sam and Mikey who were hiding behind some boxes towards the other side of the space were purposefully hacking into Don's devices as he worked. Sam made sure they weren't doing anything extreme like erasing any of his work, but more so they were playfully interfering by sending funny pop-ups of memes, or they would somehow alter the screen some. The one time Sam hacked in and changed Donnie's words every time he went to type something. This eventually became a battle as Donatello tried hacking back when Sam and Mikey went to listen to music, watch videos, play games, things like that. None of this was a big deal except for the fact that whatever one side did, it made the other side grab their sides from laughing so hard. Like they were seriously struggling in keeping their voices low and prevent themselves from laughing out loud.

Raph had been the first one to fall asleep. He didn't even realize that he was tired, he just kept crunching the weight in his hand until he eventually slumped back against the wall some, falling asleep with the weight still in his hand.  
Mikey was the next to fall asleep. He and Sam had been watching "My Love Story!" on Sam's tablet (because Sam knew how to get Mikey hooked on good shojo anime series) and he had slumped over without realizing he had been swaying side to side some. Sam helped get him propped into a comfy position as he leaned onto the wall and the box next to him. Sam then decided to get comfy and leaned on his side as she continued to watch the show.  
Eventually Donnie needed to take a break from using his devices (more so his eyes needed a break) and so he walked over to where Mikey and Sam were sleeping. He leaned against a different set of boxes and sat in a position where he was sitting on the floor, but could also rest his legs on top of Sam's, literally just to mess with her. Once that got old, Donnie scooted over so that he was sitting next to Sam, and Sam also changed her position so that she was sitting next to Donnie as the two watched episodes of Bates Motel on her tablet. This went on for a little while until eventually the two fell asleep side by side and leaning on one another.  
Leo was the last to fall asleep. He looked around the room, and once he determined his sleeping siblings were safe, he let sleep overcome him as well.

They all slept through until 5a.m. when the plan began to take off. Everyone woke up a bit and stirred when they felt the plane move, but once they realized what time it was and that it was just the plan taking off, each of them laid back down. Donnie had stated that on average it would take about 8 hours to travel from the United States to Brazil, which meant that their estimated time of arrival wouldn't be until closer to one in the afternoon, so everyone was taking advantage of this time to sleep and relax.  
Leo was the first to wake back up around 8a.m. He was a bit groggy when waking back up, but his stomach woke him up quickly soon after. The noises coming from his stomach made him question when he had last eaten, and he honestly couldn't come up with an answer. He then saw a peanut butter bar and a pack of crackers appear in front of him. He looked up to see that Sam had woken up and was now slowly shimmy-ing away from Donnie.

Leo chuckled. "You would have food with you."  
"I'd be insulted if you thought I didn't" Sam said as she stood up and stretched.  
"Riiiiiight, you're the perfectionist who has to have everything prepared for any situation."  
Sam nodded with a smile as she then tried to carefully open the back of Donnie's pack without making him move too much  
"What are you doing?" Leo asked as he began eating the snacks he was given.  
"Donnie and I were using our devices earlier, which means that they need to be charged back up. Knowing him, he'll be thrilled to see that his devices have a full charge when he wakes back up" Sam said as she removed a few wireless chargers from her friends back pack.  
"Can you check real quick and see if anything has changed in regards to Bebop and Rocksteady's location?"  
Sam nodded as she pulled out Donnie's tablet and checked the location of the signature from the ooze.  
"They haven't really moved much yet, which means we're making good timing in catching up to them."  
Leo nodded. He would have continued to eat his snacks in peace, if it weren't for the fact that he kept sensing Sam's eyes on him every few seconds.  
"Can I help you with something?" he asked with playful sarcasm.  
Sam grinned. "Just wondering what goes through your head."  
Leo paused. "What is that supposed to mean?"  
Sam chuckled. "Don't take it personally. I'm just wondering how the older brother mind works and why it makes its hosts do what they do."  
Leo sighed as he looked off to the side, not really being in the mood for a lecture on his rather harsh behaviors as of late.  
"You're not the only one you know" Sam stated.  
Leo looked back over at the girl and noticed the genuine look on her face.  
"I'm not the only what?"  
"Older brother. I know you act like an ass at times because you're the oldest and that's just how you show you care, but you're not the only one who is an older brother. Raph has two younger brothers and Donnie has one and they both worry and freak out as much as you do. And I'm older than all of you, so in a sense I understand as well."  
Leo chuckled. "You may be older, but you're always going to be the little sister" he said with a mocking smile.  
Sam rolled her eyes.  
"MY POINT, is that you have others who understand how you feel, so you don't always have to act as the one to save and protect everyone else. You have people who will work with you because they understand your view point."  
Leo sighed. "It's not the same. Yes Raph and Donnie have someone younger than them, but I have everyone to look after. It's just…different. I want to keep all of them as safe as possible, but because they're all younger brothers they just think about what's in their head at the moment, they don't think about things in the long run. They don't think about future consequences and it's my job to protect them from ever experiencing those consequences, but man they make it difficult to do that" Leo groaned as he ran his hand down his face.  
Sam laughed softly as she looked back over at Leo and away from the devices she had been charging.  
"They're your younger brothers, that means they were created to be little shits. It's part of the younger sibling code."  
Leo had to fight back a laugh after hearing that one.  
"Please share what else is in this 'book of code'."  
"That we are supposed to whine when we don't get our way, that we do the stupidest shit to piss you off, that we take your stuff without telling you about it, shall I continue?" Sam asked with a smirk.  
Leo shook his head. "I think I've heard enough. So if younger siblings get a book of code, what about the older, no the oldest sibling? What do we get?"  
"You get stuck with a contract."  
"And the guidelines are?" Leo asked.  
Sam's expression softened some as she sent Leo a gentle smile.  
"That you'll love the hell out of your younger siblings and that you'll protect them in every way possible while also respecting who they are and including their thoughts and feelings when deciding on how you're going to protect them."  
Leo's gaze shot down to the floor. He knew where she was going with this, though her description did describe what a good brother would be like.  
Sam picked up on Leo's sudden change in reaction.  
"You regret what you said to Raph yesterday, don't you?" Sam asked softly.  
Leo continued to look at the floor while he spoke.  
"He just wouldn't calm down, you know? I mean I get it because I react the same way he does when I get emotional about anything, ironically we have that in common, but I was trying to explain my reasoning to him. But he didn't want to listen, and I wanted him to understand that I was trying to protect him and then I just…blurted that out…"  
"I could tell by your face that you regretted it immediately" Sam said, continuing to talk in a soft voice.  
"*sigh* he just doesn't get it, none of them do. I wanted to prevent them from experiencing what we all did at police headquarters last night. Just, I knew something like that would happen as soon as Donnie told me about what the purple ooze could do, I knew it would lead to a dangerous and painfully realistic situation like that."  
Sam nodded her head.  
"Okay two things. One, I understand where you're coming from, because sometimes I played your role when watching over Chuck. I mean it when I say I know where your mindset is, but as the younger sibling I can also say that hiding things will never save your siblings from anything. Secrets lead to arguments that will eventually lead to more chaos, aka literally what happened yesterday. Two…well this is actually a question, but what do you mean you were trying to prevent them from painfully realistic situations?"  
Now that everything had been set up and was charging, Sam now walked over and sat down next to Leo.  
Leo displayed a saddened and worrisome expression as he spoke.  
"I knew that people would react to seeing us the way those officers did. People can't handle seeing us. I know it's shocking to see us for the first time, but people don't even think before they speak. They just see something different and freak out" Leo said, his voice still low but now becoming more pained and intense as he spoke.  
"Leo…"  
"I told Master Splinter the same thing, about how I tried to warn them. I swear they think I find enjoyment in being the ass that I am, but in reality I hate being seen as the bad guy. I don't mean to act like a total jerk, but it's for their own good. I know them all better than they think, hell I'm their oldest brother, I know more about them than anyone. But they just don't listen. I knew that people would react harshly to seeing us and I know that's probably crushed all hopes and dreams they ever had about the surface-"  
"Leo calm down" Sam said. She was now on her knees and shaking him a bit as she kneeled at his right side. Leo hadn't realized how much he was huffing as he spoke, but Sam shaking him helped him realize his actions.  
"Sorry…" Leo muttered, looking down at the floor in embarrassment. He never went off like this, that or he usually contained himself until he was alone somewhere and then would rant to himself. If something truly upset him then he might rant things out to his father, but he never acted quite like this (huffing and puffing with shaky breaths and motions) in front of anyone, ever. Sam was the only one who had ever seen him like this before. He had had a few rough arguments with Raph where he went off to 'patrol alone' when really he just needed to get away for a bit, and Sam was the only one who saw through his act no matter how calm he made himself seem to be.  
Back to current times, Sam was showing a small smile to Leo.  
"I'm your sister, I'm the one you're supposed to go to when you feel this way" she said as she slumped back against the wall and next to her friend now that he had calmed down.  
"Leo, I understand that you can't stand to see them get hurt in any way, but you need to be open with them as to why you do what you do. If you explain your reasoning to them then maybe they'll try to work with you and not against you…though I'll admit I may have played a part in the working against you recently…sorry…" Sam said. Now it was her eyes that were looking down at the ground.  
Leo chuckled lightly.  
"It's fine. I think we all have made decisions that weren't exactly our best lately, and I should have discussed what I was doing when I left abruptly with Donnie. We could have talked about important things like retrieving the mutagen and also inspecting the robbery at the museum, but I was pissed and just left with Donnie without an explanation."  
"Basically, no one is working as a team. Everyone is just doing what they think is best. We're not communicating, and we're definitely not listening to each other" Sam said.  
Leo nodded his head.  
"When we get back, I'll have a team meeting and we can discuss everything that's happened. Maybe we can all try to find some middle ground about the ooze and what are next moves will be."  
Sam smiled and looked up at Leo.  
"Now that sounds like true leader talk right there" she said genuinely. Her expression then switched back over to a more serious one.  
"But Leo, you also need to stop hiding your brothers from the world as well and HEAR ME OUT FIRST!" Sam said bluntly and in a relatively higher voice, but not so high as to wake the rest of the brothers.  
Leo sat there with his mouth open, not expecting her to cut him off so fast. He pursed his lips together and just nodded his head.  
"Leo, when I say you can't, well more so you shouldn't hide them from the world, I mean parts of it. I'm pissed at what went down at headquarters hence my alien power surprise attack that was unexpected and definitely not part of the plan. I'm disappointed at what happened between you guys and the officers, but I swear on my life that not all humans are like that, and don't interrupt and say that April and I and Jay don't count because we do!"  
Again, Leo was caught off guard with his mouth open and a facial expression that showed he was about to fight against her statement, but once again he slumped back and closed his mouth, rolling his wrist for Sam to continue.  
"Thank you. Gosh you have no patience" Sam mumbled to tease him.  
"Get on with it" Leo groaned as he rolled his eyes.  
"I know that me and April and Jay are different, but I swear we're not the only ones. Out of the thousands of people that were forced into the Foot clan, about a solid hundred actually saw you. The rest know you exist, but they have never seen you. Regardless, there's A LOT of people that send Jay emails about wanting to meet you guys to thank you or to help you in some way."  
Leo's eyes widened some after hearing this.  
"Really?" he asked, turning his head to face her.  
Sam nodded with a huge smile. "Swear my life on it dude."  
"Then, why haven't we ever heard about all this help?"  
"Because whenever I even mention you meeting other humans you shut it down in mere seconds before I've even begun to explain. You make an on the spot decision to protect your family without thinking through all the options or hearing other people share their thoughts. Sound familiar?"  
Leo inhaled and exhaled slowly, understanding that Sam was referencing all the events that had happened recently in regards to ignoring his brother's thoughts and feelings towards the purple ooze.  
"So, back to the whole I'm trying to save my brothers but I'm actually doing the opposite…" Leo said in a low and pained voice.  
Sam put her hands on Leo's right arm gently. He turned to her to see the sorrow in her eyes.  
"Don't be like that. As harsh as your choices may be at times, every decision you ever make is to protect your brothers. It doesn't always come out nice, but you always mean well. Your brothers know that to, but of course they're not going to openly admit that to you. You're the older brother, they're the younger brothers, none of you are EVER going to admit when the others are right and that you were wrong. That's just all families ever" Sam said with a chuckle.  
This lead to a chuckle escaping from Leo as well.  
He put his right arm around the girl and gave her a light hug.  
"Thanks Sam. I don't know how I got by for 16 years without you" he said sincerely with a genuine smile.  
Sam leaned into his side as a way to continue the hug.  
"Just be lucky I'm here now" she said playfully. "And know that I can help you guys too. We're a family, we all have each other's backs. I know people that can help you guys as well. You just need to be more open and not shut an idea down because the first thought in your head is how it can go horribly wrong, which you overly exaggerate sometimes" Sam teased.  
"Yeah, yeah whatever" Leo said with a laugh. "I'll try to improve on my habit of not listening and going straight to overly overprotective mode, okay?"  
"Setting goals for personal change and growth, also an excellent quality of a leader" Sam teased. "So, what did you mean earlier when you said you knew the guys better than they thought?"  
"*sigh* they think I don't know what their secret hopes are in regards to living topside as a human. But I know, and I know that that's the great thing about hopes. Hopes you can continue to look forward to, you can picture them in your head for as long as you want…but once something proves that a hope can't happen, it goes from a blissful dream to a crushed nightmare" Leo said glumly.  
Sam nodded her head. "So you were afraid that a bad experience would ruin their dreams of what life would be like as humans?"  
Leo nodded slowly.  
"I know Donnie wants to work with human scientists because he thinks he can truly make a difference when it comes to tech and medicine, and I know he would make incredible accomplishments. I also know that he lies when he says he doesn't think about romance. He thinks about it, but he knows the probability of it happening are low, so he has an 'it will never happen so why think about it anyway?' type mindset. But I know it's fake and that he wants a family and a career on the surface. And I know Raph is the same way. Heh, one time Raph got stuck knitting while balancing one foot on a tricycle for hours, and Sensei said the only thing he would do to make the punishment a little better was to let him watch t.v. He got stuck watching 60's and 70's sitcoms which actually made the routine worse for Raph, but then some show came on and there were a bunch of little kids on it. He'll never admit it, but you could tell by his face that something changed when he saw that show. He used to be the same as Donnie, why think of it when it will never happen, but ever since then he's always wondered what it would be like to have a wife and kids, but he'd take that info with him to his grave. I'd share about Mikey butttttt I think his story is most obvious" Leo chuckled.  
He turned to Sam and saw that she had a sincere and heartfelt expression on her face as she stared up at him.  
"It's sad that your brothers don't hear you talk like this more often, I feel like they would understand what goes on in your head better and they might even understand why you act the way you do."  
Leo was honestly confused. "What are you talking about?"  
"You notice things about them, things they probably think only they know about. You watch over your brothers and try to protect them in ways they don't understand. You literally fight so hard to protect them from cruel realities that you end up going overboard, and because of that they end up fighting back against you, but that's only because they don't understand your intentions. You have nothing but heartfelt intentions for all of them and yet they always lead to arguments because of the lack of communication."  
"Heh, welcome to Being the Oldest Sibling 101" Leo joked.  
"Are you ever going to tell them any of this?" Sam asked gently.  
Leo pursed his lips together.  
"Eventually. It probably won't be as in depth as our conversation though. The only time the four of us talk like that is when we're truly hurting emotionally, and this isn't that serious."  
"Typical boys" Sam said as she rolled her eyes.  
Leo laughed at her reaction, and then switched back to a more calm and serious tone.  
"I regret acting the way I did, I really do. They'd go overboard in making me realize that though so I'll never say it in front of them, but if I could go back and redo things, I would do it all differently. I wouldn't have had Donnie hide the news from the others, I wouldn't have benched Raph and Mikey, and I definitely wouldn't have said-"  
"There's only one vote that counts in this family, MINE" Sam mocked as she quickly sat up and voiced a horribly hilarious rough and tough impression of Leo. He couldn't help but laugh at the way his friend just acted.  
"That. I never would have said that" he said covering his mouth to quiet the volume of his laughter.  
"Well, if you're not going to apologize, then do your best to think things out carefully and communicate with your brothers next time. Sometimes actions are a better apology than just words that could mean nothing."  
Leo now had a huge smile on his face.  
"I'm glad."  
Sam smiled at him but furrowed her brow in confusion.  
"About what?"  
"That you're my sister."  
Now it was Sam's turn to smile.  
"Not bad for the thief you kicked out of your home the first night we met, huh?"  
"Ughhhh we have moved past that. Leave it alone" Leo groaned teasingly.  
Sam then flicked him on the side of the head.  
"Ow. What was that for?"  
"Who cares because it's in the past" Sam said in a mocking tone.  
Leo bit his lip and nodded.  
"Alright, touché" he said with a chuckle. "Hey, is your tablet all charged up yet?"  
"Ummmm at least one of them should be by now, why?"  
Leo then displayed one of his extremely rare childish expressions.  
"Wanna watch Space Heroes?"  
Sam mockingly shook her head with a smile.  
"Give me a second. I'll pull up Netflix."

It was now close to 9a.m. as Sam sat next to Leo as the two watched Space Heroes together (Sam being the only person who would happily watch the show alongside the out of character fanboy). What these two didn't know is that they weren't alone the whole time they were talking. Donnie had been falling in and out of sleep ever since Sam shimmied away from him almost an hour earlier, and Raph had gained consciousness not long after. Both of them kept their eyes closed the entire time and secretly had heard every part of the conversation. Since there was nothing that signaled danger, Mikey had slept through the whole thing, but Raph and Donnie heard all they needed to hear. They both always knew that Leo cared for them as much as they did for him, but they also knew Sam was right in saying that they had never tried to understand their oldest brother's mindset as well. Deciding to follow through with the concept of actions being a better apology than words, the two mentally decided that they would try to work with their oldest brother and hear him out before blowing up at him every time they didn't agree with his decisions.

For now, the two decided they would just lay low and continue to pretend that they were still asleep…until their stomachs also started making noises and they had to ask Sam for food.


	10. Chapter 37

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #37

***Sunday June 7****th****, 2015. 11:00a.m. in the plane. Location: somewhere over the Caribbean Sea, just crossing over the border over top of Venezuela. **

****Sam and Leo had begun watching Space Heroes around 9a. by 9:30a.m. the rest of the brothers had woken up as well. The group turned to Sam, knowing that she would be the one to have snacks either because she packed them herself, or because Mikey had snuck them into her bag. After they had all eaten some, they went back to just relaxing on the plane as they waited for their time to arrive in Brazil.  
It was now about 11a.m. Everyone had remained calm during the nighttime because the air had been nice and cool…but now that it was the middle of the day, the hot and humid air was kicking in, and everyone felt miserable. Mikey was slouched against the right wall of the inside of the cargo space of the plane. Raph was sitting not far off from Mikey's spot as he threw a small red ball as it bounced off the floor and then off the box in front of him. He needed to move in some way or else he would lose his shit. Leo was attempting to keep calm as he sat even further across the right wall. Donnie was sitting on the opposite side of the plane looking at one of his many tablets (which he gave Sam a huge thanks for charging them once he officially woke up). And then there was Sam herself, who was setting her gear up and attaching and tightening her nylon webbing chest harness on her body (and setting up some other materials now that they were a couple hours away from reaching their destination. You never know what random situation might come up, so one always needed to be prepared).

"Ughhhh" Mikey groaned as he fanned himself, "aren't there supposed to be like, pretty stewardesses handing out warm hand towels and stuff?"  
Raph sighed as he tried to remain calm, knowing that getting worked up would just make him sweat and overheat even more.  
"Not down here Mikey, not for us."  
Raph then looked over towards Sam who was standing in the middle of the space between himself and Leo. At the moment she was pulling her hair back and tightening it as much as she could.  
Raph smirked. "Sam's the closest thing we're gonna get" he said with an expression that made it known he wanted her to hear him.  
Sam froze for a second after hearing her name and then processing how it was used. Once what she thought was the message had been received, she turned towards Raph with a cocky smile.  
"DAMN. STRAIGHT!" she said pointing at him, "I'm the best at the best at being prepared for anything!"  
Leo covered his mouth, trying to hide his laughter at Sam unintentionally admitting that she was like a stewardess or like a maid. Obviously she had heard Raph wrong or missed part of what he said. Even Mikey shot Sam a weird look, confused at her response.  
Raph just smiled and shook his head.  
"Alright stewardess, throw me a towel."  
Sam was taken aback. "I'm sorry, I'm what now?"  
Leo started laughing a bit louder.  
"Hey, you're the one that admitted to it, now fork a towel over" Raph said playfully.  
Sam paused, now finally realizing that Raph hadn't teased her about always being prepared, but obviously had actually said she was like a maid and she admitted to it.  
Sam pouted. "I don't know what you're talking about" she said as she crossed her arms and looked the other way.  
Raph just rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Everyone here knows that you have at least one small towel so that if someone starts bleeding you can stop it" he said matter of factly, crossing his arms over his chest.  
Sam turned her head some and peeked through one eye at him.  
"Ugh, fine. But I'm not your stewardess though!" she said as she launched a small cloth at him.  
"Heyyyy" Mikey pouted.  
"I only have two, so you have to share" Sam said with a serious expression as she pointed back and forth between Mikey and Raph. She then turned around and tossed the other small cloth to Leo. "You share with Bill Nye over there, got it?" she said as she shot him the same expression she made towards the other two.  
Leo smiled and nodded as he wiped off his face, blessed to finally get some of this warm sweat off his body. Even he was having difficulty just sitting here in the scorching humid air.

The room lit up some as the screen from Donnie's tablet now projected in the air right in front of his face. Donnie then stood up, a worried expression taking over his face.  
"Oh boy. Bebop and Rocksteady are already in-route back to New York."  
"What?!" Leo said as he stood up and rushed over to his brother's side.  
Raph also stood up. He gritted his teeth, acknowledging that the fight was about to start earlier than expected.  
Mikey continued to hang back some, knowing there was nothing he could do. He looked at Sam who was now standing next to him. He assumed that she would want in on the action, yet she continued to hang back with him. He gently threw his arm around the girls shoulder as a way to let her know he appreciated her actions, and she then smiled as she was physically informed that he received the message. They both returned to their serious expressions once they heard Don's voice.  
"They must have retrieved the last piece they needed to open the portal" he said as he continued to press different images on the projected screen and analyze the information they provided.  
"What game is he playing?" Mikey whispered to Sam, curious about the image of the two planes that looked like they were about to hit each other.  
"It's not a game. He's playing around with the coordinates, seeing where our route intertwines wither theirs" she whispered in reply.  
Donatello then snapped his finger, pointed in Sam's direction, and then gave her a thumbs up, all the while never looking away from the images in front of him.  
Leo continued to look over the screen as he stood next to Donnie.  
"It looks like our plane is about to cross right over theirs. Right?" Leo asked.  
"Yeah, with about a 3,000 foot separation" Donnie replied.  
Raph was now looking over Leo's shoulder, watching Donnie type away at the floating images. Even Mikey had grown interested and had moved closer, though this was more so because he was distracted by the floating images.  
"So what's the plan D? If they retrieved the piece then we need to get to them now" Sam remarked.  
"Uhhhh, I can plot a course for intercept, but we'd have to jump" Donnie replied.  
All Raph heard was one word which switched his gritted teeth expression to a worried eyes wide open expression. "Jump?"  
"Jump. J-U-M-P. To push oneself off a surface and into the air by using the muscles in one's legs and feet. Synonyms include-"  
"Sam I'm about to rip your freaking face off" Raph snarled.  
Sam's eyes went wide as she threw her hands up in defense. "My bad" she said, though she was trying her hardest not to smile while doing so. She was expecting some type of sarcastic remark, but definitely not such a defensive one from the rough and tough Raphael.  
Mikey was nodding his head in excitement.  
"Man this is gonna be sweeeeeet!" he said as he ran over and high fived Sam.  
"Uhhhhhhh" Raph droned, not knowing what to think.  
Donnie picked up on this immediately. He pat his older brother on the shoulder and shot him a smile.  
"Raph, it's the only way to catch them. You got this, okay?"  
Raph pursed his lips and nodded. Knowing that he didn't have much of a choice, he tried his hardest just to suck it up and get this over with.

As quickly as he could, Donnie explained the plan to the rest of the group. He would use his grappling gun with the metal bridge to secure him to the plane using the suction cups on the metal bridge device. He then instructed his siblings on how to wear the nylon webbing waist harnesses which was basically a belt (Sam wore a chest harness instead just because the guys wanted to be extra cautious with her) and that once they reached the plane they would then snap the snap hooks on their belts to the metal base attached to the plane. They all made sure their harnesses, their thick lanyard cables (the material between the snap hook and the metal base) and their snap hooks were prepared and being worn correctly. Donnie then made sure Sam had an ear piece set up so that he could communicate with her while they were both in the air. He then made sure her pack was secured as tightly to her as it possibly could be, that her harness was tightened and worn correctly, that her ear piece was in right, and even that her hair was secured tightly enough that it wouldn't interfere with her vision. It literally looked like an adult securing a child in for an amusement park ride.  
"Ughhhh Donnie I'm fineeeaaa" Sam groaned, tilting her head and body back slightly to show how annoyed she was.  
Donnie sighed. "Just be careful, okay? I've been keeping records of the results from all the times we've tested your powers, but this is something we've never tested before. Please, just be as safe as you possibly can be" he said, resting his hand on her shoulder.  
Of course, Sam was a little shit, and in situations like this she could only respond to show she understood in the only way she knew how: pure sarcasm.  
"No" she said shaking her head, "I'm just gonna jump out of that plane and free fall. Safety is not a word in my vocabulary" she said with a kindhearted smile.  
To a normal person, this would be seen as extremely rude. However, Donnie knew Sam well enough to know that this was her way of saying she understood what he was asking and would do everything she could to keep herself out of harm's way.  
He gently lifted his hand to the side of her head and then, without being too rough, pushed her head to the side and down some.  
"Idiot" he said with a grin.

Raph and Mikey had been standing next to Leo who was holding Donnie's device from before.  
"Donnie, it's almost time" Leo called.  
Donnie nodded as he walked over and collected the device. He made sure all his materials were ready before walking over to the door. His brothers and Sam walked right behind him.  
The door opened. From left to right stood Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, Sam, and then Michelangelo. Huge gusts of wind blew into the back of the plane as soon as the door made even the slightest crack and began to open.  
Raph's instant reaction was to throw his left arm up and gently push Sam back some so that she was as far away from the opening as possible, to which her face scrunched up in confusion from the unexpected protection.  
Donnie instantly started looking down as he tried to locate the plane that should soon be appearing in sight.  
Leo just looked out into the open space and gritted his teeth. He didn't mind being up high, but being up THIS HIGH was nothing he had ever experienced before. This was definitely different from the building heights he was used to. He kept turning his head to check on his younger brother who made it clear he was not enjoying this portion of their mission.  
"Uhhhh guys, I don't think this is such a good idea!" Raph announced.  
Sam was still shocked. _"And I thought I had a fear of heights" _she thought to herself. Normally she would react the same way, but ever since she gained her new abilities, heights did not scare her anywhere near as much as they used to. Plus, she had a target, so it wasn't like she was actually free falling. Sam looked to her left and began to smile at Mikey who had a huge smile on his face as he leaned onto the edge of the door way so that he could get a better look at the sights below.  
Sam found it interesting how Mikey seemed to think this was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, while Raph seemed to think this was the most terrifying thing her had ever seen.  
Mikey heard his brother's worried statement. He then turned and patted his brother on the shoulder (though it made Raph shudder because e of how nervous he was). This shudder allowed for Sam to slip under the large turtles arm so that she could also take a step closer and get a better look at the view. For once in her life she could actually enjoy a view like this without panicking like her life was about to end.  
"Aww come on Raph!" Mikey exclaimed, "this is gonna be fun!" he said as he more playfully slapped his brothers shoulder, again, making Raph shudder.  
Leo then turned to smile at his younger brother.  
"Come on, you've faced tougher things than this" he encouraged, throwing an arm around Raph's shoulder.  
"Like?" Raph growled, though he'd be a liar if he said he didn't feel more comfortable with his brother's arm around him. It was like it was an anchor keeping him grounded.  
"Likeeeeee when we almost came crashing down from that tower" Leo replied.  
"What?!" Sam shouted, turning around in excited shock. "Where was I when that happened?!"  
Leo shook his head and smiled. "Didn't know you yet."  
"Awwww man you missed it! Raph cried and everything!" Mikey announced.  
"WHAT?!" Sam shouted. "I MISSED THAT TOO?!"  
"MIKEY!" Raph bellowed, aiming to punch his brother in the shoulder.

What these four didn't realize was that this whole time Donnie had crouched down and used his goggles to zoom in and pin point the location of the oncoming plane. He stood up and turned to face his brothers, realizing that literally now was when they needed to jump.  
"We gotta go now-" Donnie started, only to be cut off as his other three brothers nodded and turned around to start putting on parachutes.  
Donnie just stood there dumbfounded, wondering what they were doing wasting time when they needed to jump NOW!  
He then turned to see that Sam was staring at the other three with the same exact expression that he had on his face.  
_"Thank god for the same someone who always gets it" _Don thought to himself.  
Sam turned back to face him and smiled, excited to wait for further instructions.  
"Well, NOW we only have a 30 second window. You guys know the plan" he said as he waved a hand behind him, even though he suspected his brothers wouldn't see it.  
Sam walked up next to him, and right before they departed from the vehicle, she looked up at him with a confident look and put her fists up to demonstrate the 'fighting/hwaiting' expression that many of her k-pop celebrities displayed.  
The two nodded towards each other and leapt out of the plane.

Mikey literally had just happened to turn around and see the two exit the plane.  
"Uhhhh dudes?"  
"What?" Leo responded after just finishing securing a parachute to Raph's back.  
"They jumped."  
This got the older two's attention as they both deadpanned to see the empty space behind them.  
"THEY JUMPED?!" Raph shouted, his eyes large and his mouth wide open in horror.  
"Uh huh" Mikey smirked.  
A cocky smile formed on Leo's face as well. He expected this bad assery from Sam, but it was more surprising to see Donnie act this way. Regardless, his brother's confidence meant it was time to move.  
"Alright, one for all" Leo said as he walked to the open entry way.  
"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! YOU DON'T HAVE A-"  
"Whooo!" Leo shouted as he jumped out of the plane.  
Mikey was excited now that it was finally his turn.  
"I don't need a chute" he said in a calm and content manner, "I got my BOARD!"  
And that fast he had joined the rest of the group in jumping out of the plane. He placed his skateboard at his feet as he spun in circles. He tilted forward and spun and then spun in circles sideways. This was definitely the most exciting moment of his life right here. It was like he was in a cycle of completing skateboard tricks that never ended, like he was in a loop filled with excitement.  
No one noticed that Raph was freaking out as he moved around frantically, reaching his arms out as if he could still reach his brothers who were spiraling downward towards the other plane.

Meanwhile, at the front of the line, Donnie was getting closer and closer to his target. Sam, using her powers so that she was flying like Iron Man, hung back some so that she could monitor her friend.  
Donnie shut his grappling gun. The suction cupped prongs launched forward and made a direct connection and stuck to the top of the plane. Donnie pressed a button so that he now was being pulled even faster towards the plane. The momentum of the movement allowed him to swing all the way around from one side of the plane to the other as his body was then slammed down onto the top. Once his body connected to the top surface, Sam was instantly by his side. She helped him quickly stand up and connect his snap hook and lanyard cable to the metal bridge on the attached device.  
Sam was now currently her strength powers to keep her feet planted, as if she was literally fighting against the wind. She looked up to see two more figures moving in closer towards the plane, recognizing who was who. She saw that Leo was in the front and that Mikey was still spinning around in circles.  
_"That dork" _she thought to herself with a smile. Her smile soon faded as she calculated Leo's landing spot.  
"Leo's off" she said, positioning herself as she was about to fly upwards to get him.  
"Wait!" Donnie called out to her. "Mikey can help him. You need to savor as much power as you can. You don't know your limits here."

Sam nodded as she continued to look upward. Mikey had reached Leo and moved both of them upwards so that they would land on the plane, but now they were coming in uncontrollably fast.  
Sam quickly leapt to her left side and zoomed around to the back tail of the plane, prepared to catch one of the brothers in case they couldn't stick their landing. She was now standing along the right elevator wing on the plane, her increased strength keeping her body stabilized in place. She looked up to see Leo and Mikey make their impact on the top of the vehicle. Sam cringed as she saw Mikey land on his shoulders, grateful that her turtle friend had his shell on his back to brace most of the impact. Leo landed hard as well, but he managed to slam down onto his hands and knees. He rolled forward once and then, being the smooth and collected ninja he was, managed to land on his side with his hand and foot propping him up at an angle where he was able to slide down along the top of the plane. Mikey's landing, however, was not so graceful. He landed on his shoulders, then spun around on his side, and then landed on his back. Because of this he was never able to place his arms or legs onto the plane and was not able to stick a solid landing like Leo had. Bouncing off his shell also launched him a bit higher off the surface as well as he soared over top and past Leo.

Although he wasn't always graceful in his movements, Michelangelo was as quick as a bullet. He grabbed onto his nunchuks and extended them in hopes that Leo would be able to grab on. Leo was able to grab a hold with his right hand, but Donnie was now holding onto his left so that Leo and Mikey wouldn't go flying off into the air. Because of this, Leo and Mikey both slammed against the rudder of the plane. Within that split second Mikey had lost his grip and let go of his side of the weapon. Sam picked up on this immediately and launched herself forward. She grabbed onto Mikey's left hand while the momentum of her launch moved her body so that she continued to travel forward. She twisted her body so that her feet were flat on the plane as she stood sideways on the side of the plane, perpendicular to Leo. In doing this, Mikey's body was pulled in the same direction. In being pulled forward so swiftly, the position of his body had not moved at all as he continued to face forward with his arms extended outward. Because of this, he was able to once again grab ahold of the nunchuks in Leo's hand so that now two people were holding onto him.  
As quick as he could, Donnie walked over and grabbed hold of the snap hook and chord around Leo's waist.  
"Sam!" Donnie shouted.  
Sam nodded and switched places with Donnie who had walked around Leo. Donnie was using both his hands to hold onto Mikey's right wrist. Leo quickly pulled Mikey's arm forward and then switched his own hands so that he was now using his left arm to hold Mikey's wrist, his right arm now holding onto the rudder of the plane with all the strength he had. Meanwhile, Sam had used all her strength to fly forward and snap Leo's hook onto the metal platform.  
"You're good!" Sam shouted, using her strength to stay put in her spot.  
Leo and Donnie used all their might to pull Mikey forward. The two held onto their baby brother's hands for dear life as they all fought their hardest to walk forward.  
Sensing their struggle, Sam walked forward and used both her hands to grab onto Leo's open left hand in order to help the group move forward. Donnie placed his free hand on Mikey's back in case his younger brother fell, that way he could grab onto him in some way and still try to keep him safe. Mikey leaped forward and connected his snap hook to the platform. Now that he was safe, he let the wind pull him back.  
Suddenly, Sam's vision went black. For literally two seconds her body went limp and the wind began to take her backwards, but luckily Mikey and Leo both grabbed onto one her arms. By the time her consciousness returned, she was flying backwards with the two turtles being the only reason she wasn't flying into midair by herself. She pulled herself forward and was able to get her feet back onto the plane's surface.  
Mikey now pulled Sam in front of him so that her body could lean against his rather than flying backwards if whatever just happened would happen again.  
"What was that?!" Leo called out to her.  
"Uhhh, I slipped" Sam lied. She honestly had no idea what had just happened either, but she wasn't about to admit that. Not now at least.  
Sam looked around and realized she was only standing with three brothers.  
"Uh, guys? Where's Raph?"  
"There!" Mikey shouted as he pointed upwards at a figure falling towards the plane. "Looks like he's coming in kinda fast" Mikey said, slightly worried about his brother's location towards the plane. They saw Raph deploy his shoot due to him falling to far forward and almost missing the plane completely. The group cringed as they saw the chute pull Raph up and slam him into the front window of the plane. Sam noticed that the parachute was pulling to Raph's right and was aiming down towards where the jet engine was. Terrified that Raph would get sucked up and torn to shreds, and without considering how weak she felt, Sam ran and launched herself forward and then down some so that she was in the open space between the engine and the body of the plane. She made it just in time to pull Raph closer towards her and out of the direction of the engine and then upwards.  
What Sam didn't see was Raph now holding onto the wing of the plane. He held on as much as he could, but the pull of the wind was stronger. Raph was ripped from the wing as he went soaring back, but luckily was caught by Leo who had leapt outward and to the side, knowing that the lanyard cable connecting him to the metal platform would keep him safe. The two brother's latched onto each other as Raph then dug his sai into the plane, keeping them both still.  
"Nice catch!" Raph shouted to his older brother.  
The two used all their might as they pulled themselves back towards their other brothers. Raph latched himself onto the plane and then looked around.  
"Where's Sam?!" he shouted.  
Mikey shrugged. "We saw her fly back that way and we thought she was with you!"  
Donnie then pressed the button on his ear piece.  
"Sam?! Sam where are you?!" he shouted.  
_"Ummmm I'm in a bit of a situation."  
_"There!" Leo said. He was turned around and pointing towards the rudder of the plane where Sam was holding on for dear life.  
"Sam what's wrong?!" Donnie shouted.

What the brothers had not seen was a weak Sam use the last bit of energy she had left to save Raph, and because of this, her body went limp again as she was dragged to the back bottom side of the plane. Luckily it had only been for a few seconds again, so when she gained her consciousness she was able to grab onto the bottom of the plane. She had literally used the last of her energy to pull herself up and angle herself so that she was now hugging the rudder as she faced away from the brothers.  
Once Sam had explained all this through her ear piece, all four boys felt their hearts beating in their chests harder than before.  
Donnie quickly tried to think of a plan.  
"Alright Sam! You're going to launch yourself straight forward one more time! There's four of us, so one of us will catch you, but you have to aim straight and low, okay?!" Donnie shouted, the wind starting to bring tears to his eyes since he had been standing here the longest.  
Sam gulped and then agreed. She took a deep breath, mustered up all the strength she had left (which was little to none) and launched herself towards the guys. For the third time now, Sam's vision went dark and her body went limp. The wind quickly pulled her body back, but she had four large turtles watching her every move. Sam's body traveled straight back and, ironically, she was pulled right in Raph's direction. The largest brother jumped up and grabbed onto her as he held her close to his body. Donnie instantly grabbed for the snap hook on her chest harness and locked her in so that she could no longer fly away from them. All four brothers sighed in relief once Sam was locked in place.

By the time Sam's eyes opened back up she could no longer felt the wind on her face and could no longer feel the sunlight on her skin. Her ears picked up the sounds of male screams and as she slowly began to open up her eyes, she saw four green figures tossing black figures. She began to sit up, but she stopped as she felt a slight pounding in her head.  
The boys had just tossed the last Foot soldier out of the plane when they heard a noise and looked over to see Sam wincing.  
Mikey and Donnie walked over towards Sam while Leo and Raph shut the door.  
Donnie began checking to make sure her vision, heartbeat, and other vitals were okay (which they were to his relief).  
"You okay?" Sam asked him.  
Donnie's eyes went wide. "Me? You're the one that blacked out three times."  
"Hehe, well it looks like we're learning more about my limits."  
"Not funny."  
Sam turned to see Leo staring at her with angered concern.  
Sam nodded. "I know. Sorry" she said feeling guilty. "Is everyone okay?"  
She looked around to see all four turtles were with her, and this brought a smile to her face.  
Mikey and Donnie helped her stand up. The group then walked over to a large box in the middle of the room. The boys each took a side and ripped it off. All five of them now crouched down as they looked at the device behind the glass that was emitting a purple glow.  
"Okay, this must be what they came to Brazil for" Leo said, looking at the object with curiosity.  
"It's an interdimensional portal opening thingy mabob" Mikey stated, eyes wide as he wondered how exactly this device worked.  
"Well there's probably a more technical name for it" Donnie stated.  
Sam smirked, she wasn't sure what was funnier: Mikey saying typical Mikey gibberish, or that Donnie was already nerding out and examining the new device as he pulled his goggles over his eyes.  
Sam then noticed something moving on the other side of the glass as she stood up between Mikey and Donnie.  
Raph had noticed this as well as he also stood up. He then grabbed onto Mikey's head and turned it to face forward.  
"Uh, guys?" Raph asked with wide eyes.  
Mikey looked up with an excited smile at what was now in front of them. Donnie and Leo both turned to look forward and were now mimicking Raph's expression.  
"Oh" Donnie said, placing his goggles back on top of his head.  
"Oh boy" Leo remarked.  
In front of them was a HUGE rhino and warthog mutant duo, kicking their feet and snorting loudly.  
Of course, Mikey was unphased as always and was more focused on how awesome this sight was rather than focusing on the fact that he needed to fight these giants.  
"Dude, bringing back the Mohawk! Good for you" he said as he stretched his arms out in a 'smooth and cool' motion.  
"Oh you guys have jokes huh?" the warthog asked as he smoothed his hair and put on his purple glasses. "Well let's see how funny you are, after he bash your heads in!" he announced as he punched his fist into his head.

The two giants charged at the group of five, and that's when the true battle began.

**So I just recently finished watching the 2012 Nickelodeon series and my goodness this show was amazing. I'm slightly pissed at the extremely vague open-ended ending, but I also know that this is part of a contract deal that Nickelodeon has based on an article I read. Regardless, I still loved the series and I enjoyed everything it had to offer. I loved the romance (though I'm also slightly irked that it was hinted that Mikey ends up with Renet. I like him and Shini together way more. I liked his adorkable and comical side mixed with her smooth and badass personality. There was something about them where they had obvious differences but they were also mischievous and could easily get along well together. Totally shipped the hell out of those two as I did all the other couples). The action was intense and there were even emotional moments I was not expecting. I know everyone is allowed to their own opinion, but I'm shocked that there are people who basically bashed the hell out of this series. But hey, to each their own, and I will always respect others as long as they respect my thoughts back. But man I loved this series and I'm sad that it's over, but I'm also extremely interested to see how this new series will play out. Like for…what, about 20 to 30 years since the turtles debuted (if I'm doing my math the right way, which mental math is my worst subject ever, so please don't judge me) I feel like a solid 70-90% of what happens in every TMNT film/tv series is OVERALL very similar. For example, Raph clashing with Leo because he wants to be leader instead of his big brother, April always being a white woman (don't worry, I know she was a black woman in the comics either in the beginning or at least at some point, sorry I still have A LOT to learn from the comics) who is either a reporter or a lab assistant, Leo attempts to stay calm and collected and usually ends up being an ass because of it but hey it's okay because in the end he works together with his brothers and they all come together as a team, Leo usually being one of the most mature ones (though not always), Mikey usually being the main (not only) dork and goofball in the family, etc. But this new series is changing up a lot of things that I feel fans have just become accustomed to. Like, at first I was getting a bit upset as I heard all these new changes, but then I thought this mindset over and actually became more excited for the new show. Guess I'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out once it airs! For now I'm going to attempt to watch episodes from the 03 series while I also read the Batman and TMNT collab series and MAN THAT COMIC IS FREAKING AMAZING SO FAR! I'm reading it at a ridiculously slow pace, but man what I've seen so far is pretty dang cool. **

**Thank you for reading my rant:**

**-TheNerdyTomboyNewb96 **


	11. Chapter 38

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #38

**Sunday June 7****th****, 2015. About 12:00p.m. Minutes after entering the enemy plane, the fight begins with Bebop and Rocksteady. **

****Within seconds of the two groups of mutants (and a mutagenic human) meeting face to face, the fight had begun.  
Leo ran towards Bebop, but the warthog was one step quicker and swung his fist forward. The collision made a brutal sound that echoed throughout the plane as Leo was flipped over onto his back.  
Rocksteady had charged towards Raph. The turtle's punches did little to nothing as the rhinoceros picked him up and slammed the turtle onto his back.  
Both turtles had received rough blows at the beginning of the fight, but as always, they were quick to analyze the situation and they bounced back fast.  
Bebop was about to slam his elbow into Leo's chest, but he rolled away in time and then quickly got to his feet. Leo then took a step forward as he used all his strength to pick up the fallen mutant and threw him towards the front of the plane.  
Raph had elbowed Rocksteady in the jaw, and within the two seconds the rhino spent rubbing his jaw, Raph had hooked his hands around the larger mutant and picked him up. He spun in a circle and launched Rocksteady towards the back of the plane where he crashed onto the tank that was chained to the floor.

Mikey had thrown his arm out to the side as a means to block Sam (why people kept doing this today, she didn't have a clue). Mikey's mindset was that Sam had blacked out three times while they had traveled from one plane to the next, so he wanted to keep her out of the fight as long as he could. So if Leo and Raph had these two giant mutants under control for now, then he wanted it to stay that way.  
Meanwhile, Donnie had rushed towards the alien device and held it up high over his head.  
"Watch it!" he shouted when Leo had thrown Bebop away from him.  
"Careful!" he shouted when Raph spun and tossed Rocksteady off of him as if the rhino weighed nothing.  
Leo run up to Bebop as he continued their brawl while Donnie grabbed the device and ran to the side of the plane where he would be away from all the commotion. Raph was about to start charging Rocksteady once more until he heard his youngest brother panicking from the other side of the plane.  
"Uhhhhh guys?!" Mikey alarmed as he gritted his teeth and waved his hand towards the rhino's direction. Everyone but Leo, who was too busy spin kicking Bebop and connecting his foot with the pig's face, was now staring wide eyed as Rocksteady climbed into the seat of the tank. A wicked smile grew on his face as he sat down, took his aim, and began shooting away from the back of the plane.  
Mikey knew Leo wasn't aware of this, so he dashed over and jumped onto Leo so that the two were now on the ground.  
However, Sam had no idea where these bullets would land and if the two would make it down in time, so she jumped in front of them and used her wind powers to push the bullets upwards and diagonally behind them. The bullets dodged the two turtles, but they still trashed the front of the plane. Sam looked up to see the two pilots be ripped from their seats from the wind pressure as their parachutes then kicked in and let them float in the air.  
She then looked around as the four turtles stood up from their various locations. Donnie and Mikey shot the rhino a depressed look, shocked at how dumb he truly was. Even Mikey knew that he was smart enough not to make such a dumb move as shooting off a tank's gun, well, inside anywhere ever.  
Raph stood up and glared at the mutant as he shook his head.  
Leo stood up and moved his arms in a way as if to question what the heck this idiot was thinking.  
"Dude! Seriously?!" Bebop shouted.  
Sam shook her head. "_It's pretty bad when your own teammate is questioning your moves_" she thought to herself.

Sam quickly looked around and observed her surroundings.  
At the time, Raph was still near the back of the plane where the tank had been, Donnie and Bebop were on opposite sides of the middle space, and then she, Mikey, and Leo were further towards the front, but that was before the plane started tipping.  
With no one controlling the plane and with all the huge gusts of wind entering the vehicle, the plane began to dip downwards and gradually twisting in circles as well.  
Somehow this movement had caused Leo and Raph to literally get ripped from their spots and thrown to where the other was standing. Sam slipped and fell, and if she hadn't used her wind powers to launch herself forward, Bebop would have landed on her. Donnie slipped and lost his grasp of the device as it fell and landed in Mikey's hands.  
"Got it!" he shouted…before he became the cushion to Donnie's fall since the older brother could not find anything to grab onto. Donnie quickly squirmed and crawled away towards the very front of the plane where the steering mechanisms were located.  
"I'll take that!" Bebop announced as the device literally just landed in his hands.  
Mikey stood up shakily and rubbed the back of his head.  
"Yeah I don't got it" he said, right before a large box fell on him.  
"Don't worry guys, I'll level out the plane!" Donnie announced as he sat in the front seat.

At this point Sam was moving all over the plane. She was trying to only use her powers when she truly needed to, so she was using her skills from basic training in order to dodge all the violently falling and flying boxes. Leo and Raph were trying to maintain their balance and dodge all the debris as well, but there were certain times where the plane would twist and the two couldn't control their movements, including the most recent movement where they went to dodge falling boxes and instead both ended up landing on Sam in the process.  
"Sorry" they cringed.  
Sam looked dazed as she lay there.  
"Awesome…" she mumbled, not being able to say much else after having the wind knocked out of her like that.  
Leo then quickly pulled her up and towards him as he jumped back away from another falling box.  
"Sam! I could use your help!" Donnie shouted from the front of the plane.  
Sam did her best to maintain her balance as she moved, but Leo and Raph could sense that she needed some help. Leo held onto Sam's arm as he carefully helped her jump over towards Raph. Raph then held onto the girl as he dived forward, avoiding a spiraling Bebop in the process. Sam turned back once more and saw that the remaining three turtles were overall managing to take care of themselves. Knowing this, she deemed it okay to crawl towards the cockpit and join Donnie in the front seat.  
"Oh wow" Sam said with wide eyes as she now for the first time realized that there was little to no type of steering or anything to keep this plane up in the air.  
"Sam, you think you still have some energy left in you?" Donnie shouted through the loud winds rushing by them as they continued to spiral downward.  
"I can do whatever you need me to!" Sam shouted back.  
"There's a chance I'll need to you fly under the plane and use your strength to push it back upwards. I'm trying to do that now and I'm failing!" he shouted as he struggled in controlling the steering wheel of the plane.  
"Alright!" Sam said as she went to stand up.  
"NO! Don't go until I say so!" Donnie shouted.  
Sam nodded. "Got it!"  
Donnie noticed that as she talked to him, she also continued to watch what was happening behind her on the plane.  
Sam saw Mikey literally running in circles from the top to the side walls to the bottom of the plane in a continuous pattern.  
"Careful! As some of the items may have shifted during flight!" he shouted as he forcefully stomped onto a fallen Bebop's chest during his energetic and momentum filled run.  
Bebop grunted as the device flew from his hands and into Mikey's. The youngest turtle held onto the device above his head, but he didn't have the best grip on said device. Raph stumbled near Mikey as he fought to regain his balance after diving with Sam towards the front. Because of him not regaining his footing, he stumbled near Mikey and the device banged Raph's head due to Mikey's weak grasp.  
The device then went flying backwards towards Leo who had literally just finally regained his balance within the flying vehicle.  
Bebop quickly flipped onto his feet and charged towards Leo. Of course, the turtle was much quicker and leaped up in time so that Bebop ran right under him and smashed into his companion who had been strapped in his seat in the now upside down tank. The force from the hit caused the chains to break as the tank crashed onto the ground. The impact was so heavy that Rocksteady's head literally smashed through the metal of the plane.  
Sam sighed out in relief as she saw Leo roll away in time before the tank would have squished him onto the floor.  
Sam then turned her head when she heard Donnie make a weird panicked sound. Sam's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped as she saw Donatello sitting in the driver's seat with the handles to the steering wheel now completely disconnected from the rest of the plane as Donnie held it in front of his face with wide eyes of his own.  
"Are you…holding the thing that keeps us alive…in front of your face?" Sam asked with what would be deemed a hilariously dumbfounded expression, if they weren't about to crash into the ground.  
Donnie quickly grabbed his bo from a spot on his pack and then grabbed Sam's hand.  
"I am now" he said as he nodded to her with a slightly confident slash nervous smile.  
_"How ya doing up there Donnie?" _Leo's voice echoed from further back inside the plane.  
"Uhh, everything's great. I'm doing awesome!" he called back, hoping that this would really be the case with him and Sam working together.  
"Now?!" Sam called out to the turtle sitting next to her, a small smirk crawling up on her lips.  
"Now!" he shouted back.  
Sam flew forward and then under the nose of the plane. At the same time, Donnie had extended his bo staff so that it now connected into the spot where the steering handles had been. Donnie pulled back as far as he could so that the steering mechanisms would pull the plane up. Sam was now using all her strength to fly and push the plane upwards as much as she possibly could.  
Sam couldn't help but close her eyes as she saw the ground closing in faster and faster, until suddenly she felt the weight above give some.  
She opened her eyes to see that Donnie's plan had worked and that both their strength's had pulled through as the plane began to scoop itself back up into the air.

Meanwhile, in the back of the plane, everything that had been flying around was now falling straight through the back open whole in the plane.  
Raph was tripped by a sliding box as he collapsed onto the surface of the plane. He dug his sais into the floor of the plane in order to prevent himself from falling backwards with the rest of the debris. As he continued to use his sais to stabilize him, he rolled to his right and then to his left in order to dodge multiple other sliding boxes that were about to fall out the back of the plane. Then he rolled as hard and as fast as he could to the right side of the plane as the tank began to slide backwards. As the tank fell backwards, it broke off the rest of the back of the plane so that now a huge hole was visible, meaning that anything that fell without anything to hold onto would fall to the ground. Luckily, Raph dug his sai into the floor so that his body was outside the plane, but he was still planted in one spot. The two larger mutants went flying out the back, and if Raph hadn't just grabbed onto his brother's hand, then Leo would have been sent flying with them.  
Raph swung him and his older brother back into the plane as it spun once again.  
Mikey had still somehow managed to maintain his spot closer towards the front of the plane.  
"Guys, where's Sam?!" Mikey called out as he spun in circles looking for his best friend.  
In his distracted frenzy, Mikey completely missed a box that slid past him and was now aiming for Raph. The large turtle dove to his left and avoided the box, but as the plane now projected forward at a tremendous speed, Raph was not able to stand back up.

Sam had just now returned at this time through the front of the plane. She grabbed onto one of the seatbelts from the side and latched onto it as she wrapped the belts around one of her wrists, but still keeping it slightly loose so that it wouldn't rip her hand off depending on a traumatic and forceful impact or collision.  
She saw Leo spin around and grab Raph's hand, the roles now reverses from what they were mere seconds ago. Leo was just starting to pull his older brother in when a piece of the wing (what was left of it) broke off and caught part of Raph's foot as it pulled him along with it.  
"RAPH!" Leo called after his brother.  
Sam was able to look out and see that they were relatively close to the water now, so that should mean that Raph would land hard in the water, but he should still live. They weren't high enough up where the collision would feel like hitting solid ground. He would be a bit beat up, but with his physical build, he should have been alright.

Sam didn't have time to think about anything else as the plane quickly continued to drop down. Within seconds the plane crashed onto the surface as water came crashing inside the plane.  
Mikey leaped over to protect Sam, but he was a split second too late. He was still able to engulf Sam in his arms, but only a second after the water violently swarmed through the inside of the plane. The water gushed in rapidly, and before Mikey could get to Sam, the water shoved her backwards as her head smacked the wall of the plane.  
Although Mikey was able to grab onto Sam and close his arms around her, the river began to rapidly suck the plane further and further down into the depths below, proving the river was much deeper than it appeared to be from a higher surface. The momentum of the plane being sucked downward ripped the turtles from where they had been standing and threw them all around the inside of the plane. Luckily, they were turtles, meaning they could breathe underwater for a relatively long time, and this made maneuvering their way through the debris pretty easy once they were out from the plane itself.

Leo was the first to return to the surface as he leaned onto a large broken piece from the plane.  
"Everyone okay?" he called out.  
Mikey was then the next to return to the surface. He swam over to a flattened rectangular box where he could lay Sam down on her back. Sam was coughing like crazy, but she still managed to give a thumbs up as she lay back down on her back.  
Mikey sighed in relief.  
"We're good!" he announced to his oldest brother.  
As Mikey then swam over to a nearby floating tire, Donnie then popped up and leaned on the box that Sam was laying on.  
"I'm good!" he called out. He quickly scanned the area in case anyone had any injuries, and in doing so, he realized they were down a brother.  
"Wait, where's Raph?" he called out.  
"Fell about *cough* a minute or so ago. Not much debris around *cough cough* so he should be fine" Sam said, sitting up some at first and then collapsing back onto her back once she got her message out.

Just then, Leo spotted Bebop on a large floating engine piece as he made his way down the river. Both mutants spotted the device further down the river and they both made their move. Bebop belly flopped into the water so that he could move quicker down the river towards the piece, while Leo pushed his floating piece from the plane away as he attempted to swim down the raging rapids.  
Donnie quickly stood up onto the box carefully and scooped Sam up in his arms. At this time their floating spot was closest to the shore, so he quickly leaped onto some other floating debris and made his way to dry land. He laid Sam down on the ground in a spot where he felt she would be safe.  
Sam began to stand up.  
"No!" Donnie yelled back to her.  
Sam looked up at him in surprised confusion. She had not been expecting such a harsh reaction from the turtle.  
"You've saved us multiple times already Sam. You've pushed your powers further than ever today. Stay here and stay safe! I mean it!"  
Donnie then spotted a different floating box that was closing in on the portal device. He dashed  
across the debris until he landed on that box.  
Sam would have chased after him…if her coughing weren't getting the best of her. She still wanted to be close by in case she was needed, so she carefully jogged along the shore, hiding behind the trees as she watched everything that was happening.  
Sam was the only one that saw Leo duck under a branch and swim under water towards the device while Donnie was rowing his way closer above the water.  
Leo burst upwards through the water, but he collided with Donnie. The two bumped into each other and because of this they both lost their handling of the device.  
"Leo no!" Donnie shouted in frustration.  
"I saw it Donnie!" Leo barked back.  
"_Man, I could have warned one of them about the other. I need to get back out there!_" Sam thought to herself.  
She continued to watch as Bebop grabbed onto the device and then pulled himself up onto a large flat piece that had broken from the plane. Of course Leo was only two seconds behind as he leaped up onto the surface and then completed two spin kicks. The first launched the device out of Bebop's hands and high up into the air. The second launched the device backwards away from where both of them were standing as the device landed in the water between Donnie and Mikey.  
Sam's anticipation was cut off as she heard a familiar voice.  
"Sam!"  
Sam turned around to see Raph running up behind her.  
"Get down!" he yelled.  
Sam did as she was told as Raph ducked down next to her. She soon saw why he instructed to her to get low as they both watched the tank floating by quickly along the river.  
Sam knew where the turtles were since she had been by their side on the surface.  
"The guys are right in that thing's direction. You have to hurry." She quickly looked around her.  
"Go up this incline right here, it leads up ahead quicker than down here" she commanded.  
Raph nodded and did as he was told, and he was grateful for Sam's input. Because he had taken this small incline, he had reached his brothers just in time before the tank appeared. Mikey and Donnie hadn't seen the tank because it had fallen underwater due to the force from going through the rapids. It was like it disappeared for a few seconds and then reappeared right behind them out of thin air. The movement from the tank rising up pushed Mikey's raft up high enough and to the side that Mikey was in the clear, but Donnie was now standing on his box right in the direct spot of where the bullet would fly. He wanted to move, but the uprising of the tanks had caused violent waves that shook the box Donnie was standing on, making it difficult to maintain his balance. Raph dashed over and leapt high and far enough that he was able to grab onto Donnie's shoulder and move him far enough in time that the bullet just missed piercing through Donatello.

Sam sighed out in relief as she saw Raph, Donnie, and Mikey bob back up in the water. They had lost control of grabbing onto the device, but at least they were safe now. Sam continued to creep along the shoreline as she hid behind the trees while watching the fight continue on. She spotted the purple device in its clear box as it now floated straight back to where Bebop and Leo were fighting. Of course, Bebop was the one who had grabbed onto the device in the middle of the fight.  
"I should be out there" Sam muttered angrily under her breath while she hid, "I could have helped prevent that from happening."  
The bullet from the tank then crashed into a large tree right over top of Leo and Bebop. As soon as the pig got his hands on the box, Leo tried to yank the device away. Unfortunately Bebop had the better stance and was able to remove the device from Leo's grasp right before he used it to knock Leo off the floating piece from the plane. Leo landed safely in the water, but just like his brothers, he was now nowhere close to reaching and retrieving the piece needed for opening the portal. To make matters worse, the tree that had been hit now fell over onto the spot where Leo had been standing. This then launched Bebop back towards the tank where Rocksteady grabbed onto him and pulled him up so that they both were high and dry.

Sam groaned as she then watched the tank come to a halt as it was stopped by some larger rocks. This wouldn't be such a big deal, you know, if her friends weren't floating further away down the river.  
"Hehe, bye turtles!" Bebop shouted.  
"Heads up!" Rocksteady shouted as he pointed behind them.  
Sam turned towards the turtles as her face now unintentionally matched theirs.  
None of them had realized that the turtles were now about to fall down an extremely large drop from an incredibly tall waterfall.  
Sam began to shake in fear as she watched her brothers as they inched closer and closer towards the dangerous drop.  
Sam wanted to just assume they would be safe. They were turtles after all, so they could swim and even hide in their shells if need be…but what if there was more than just the water fall?  
What if there were sharp rocks at the bottom of the drop? What if the fall was so high that it was the equivalent of jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge? What if they all fell unconscious during the fall and drowned? They could swim underwater for a very long time (based on what Donatello had told her) but even he had confirmed that they could only swim underwater without any air for so many hours. What if they drowned before they woke back up to get more air?

The more dreadful questions Sam asked herself, the angrier she got. She didn't realize it, but she was running. She also didn't realize that the turtles could still see her as she now ran up a small incline and then leaped down towards Bebop. She would never know the terror that filled all four turtles as they watched Sam punch Bebop right in the jaw and then spin and kick Rocksteady in the gut, knocking them both over as they fell into the water along with the device.  
The four turtles knew that she was using her powers too much at one time, and that she was straining herself in the way she had been using her powers in the last hour than she had ever used them before. They knew this, but Sam did not. She was so absorbed in attacking the two men who possibly just stole her brothers from her that she didn't even hear them screaming her name as they all fell down the waterfall until it was too late.  
She turned and her heart sunk as she watched the four turtles disappear down the falls. The sounds of Bebop and Rocksteady climbing back up onto the tank brought her back to her current situation as she realized she needed to retrieve that device for the portal. She may not have been able to save her family, but she would do everything she could to avenge them and honor them by completing their mission and keeping the city safe.  
Sam used her still relatively new power of using her wind strength to pull the device from the water and back towards her. As soon as the device touched her fingertips she turned her body, jumped back onto dry land, and ran. As soon as her feet hit the grass, she began to wobble a bit.  
_"Oh no, not now!" _she thought to herself. She couldn't have another blackout here. Luckily she had just felt dizzy for a literal second and now she was running into the forest, but she was terrified of what was to come. She had a strong hunch that if she used her powers anymore that she would officially black out again, but now was a moment where she needed them more than ever.  
"Awwww no Beebs! Where'd she go?!"  
"I see bushes moving that way!"  
_"Shit!" _Sam was actually beginning to panic now. She had faced tough humans with her natural strength, and she had fought mutants with her powers, but facing two gigantic mutants with just her own muscle and no one else to help her, that was suicide. She didn't know what else to do, so she just kept running. What was worse, if they were anything like the Mutanimals, then they had a keen sense of smell. This meant that hiding wasn't an option, so her literal only option was to run as far as her legs would allow her to go. Her speed and stamina were the only things she had to work with at this point, so she would cut and start running in different directions, she would leap over and duck under different pieces of the terrain, she was doing whatever she could to make the mutants run tougher than it would be for her. This worked at times, and she could tell because the footsteps behind her would become fainter, but within minutes later they would return. Loud and noisy footsteps closed in on her many times. She had to have been running for at least an hour now. She felt like she had been running in circles and honestly she had no clue where she was, she just knew she needed to survive.

That's when the worst thing of all happened. She didn't black out, but her body tensed up. It was like she had been shot with a tranquilizer, but she checked her body and there was nothing there. Her vision blackened some, but it came back. Taking a wild guess, she assumed that overusing her powers and then pushing her body through such strenuous conditions had forced her body to just shut down. Because she hadn't used her powers in over an hour, she did not blackout, but she lost all control of her movements. Her body continued to move on the inside (her organs working and functioning) but the outside of her body froze and she collapsed to the ground.  
She tried crawling under some nearby brush, but it was too late.  
Bebop and Rocksteady, huffing and puffing, walked over and looked down upon the girl who was lying face first in the dirt.  
"WHOO! Man I never thought you were gonna stop!" Rocksteady announced.  
Bebop wiped the sweat from his head.  
"You're one tough cookie girly, but nothing that we can't crack" Bebop said with a wicked tone to his laughing voice.  
"Heh, let's crack her alright" the rhino said, cracking his knuckles.  
"WHOA! DUDE!" Bebop shouted, pushing his friends shoulder. "What's the matter with you Rock? You know we don't kill women! And we ESPECIALLY don't harm them if they can't fight back!"  
Rocksteady looked down at the ground, ashamed of his comments.  
"I'm so sorry man, I just keep getting carried away today."  
"Hey, it's okay buddy. We've had a rough first day, stresses you out ya know?" the warthog said as he comforted and cheered up his friend.  
"So, what do we do with her?"  
"Hmmmmmm" the pig thought out loud, "well we can't kill her cause that would go against our morals…" His face then lit up and a devious expression covered his face.  
"I guess we'll just let fate decide what happens to her."

Bebop carried the device as Rocksteady grabbed Sam's legs and dragged her back to the river. Sam hadn't realized how close she been to the shoreline as she came to the end of her long run, but she hoped she was much further back than earlier that evening. Her hopes seemed to have been fulfilled since she didn't see any familiar scenery when the mutants brought her back to the river.  
Bebop found a log and dropped it in the water, and the Rocksteady placed Sam on top of the log. It was heavy enough to carry her, but her bodyweight made the log sink down just a tad bit. Because of this, water rushed against the sides of Sam's head. The water filled her ears and made it so that she couldn't hear anything. She had no idea what the two mutants were laughing at, but she assumed their laughter was aimed at the blank expression on her face. She would never reveal any emotion to them that they had won, but apparently they found all this funny anyway.

Sam watched the mutant's wave goodbye as they kicked the log off the ground so that it now floated away down the river. Sam's back was laying on the log which meant that she could not look in any direction but up towards the sky. She sighed, wondering if this was the end for her. She definitely never would have expected THIS to be the way she died, but she knew there was nothing she could do to avoid it. She felt tears begin to prick her eyes but she quickly blinked them away. She felt that crying would signal defeat, and she would never admit defeat, even in death she would go out like an honorable warrior.  
She kept waiting and waiting for her body to gain control of itself once again, but this never happened. She guessed she had been floating for about 20 minutes now and she knew she couldn't have run that far away from her original starting point since she kept circling around and running through past different areas where the trees would get in the mutants way or where the ground went uphill and downhill, different things that would make their run much more difficult than hers. Knowing this, she just kept waiting to reach the waterfall. Knowing these were her last moments, she tried convincing herself that the deadly fall would be more like a steep drop on a roller coaster. She then started imagining what it would be like to go on a roller coaster with the turtles. It amused her to think of the muscular turtles trying to fit into the harnesses of a roller coaster when they struggled just to get their harnesses set up for laser tag. And then the worst thought hit her: she would never see her brothers again. She sighed, long and slow. This was really it. She closed her eyes, hoping that if her eyes were to stay closed forever then at least she would end seeing happy thoughts as she replayed some of her happiest moments with her new family.

She was so wrapped up in these more peaceful thoughts (in hopes of leading to a more peaceful ending) that she hadn't realized she was no longer moving down the river. It wasn't until she felt small waves rise up and over her while she lay on the log that she felt the need to open her eyes. Seconds later, two tech covered arms were picking her up and carrying her towards 3 more sets of arms that helped pull the tech arms and herself back to dry land.  
She was fighting so hard not to cry at how relieved she was. It was still hard for her to hear anything because of how much water was now clogging her ears, but right now she was pretty sure that she didn't want to hear what was being said anyway.  
The water finally settled, and she honestly didn't know what to make of the first sounds she heard, since the first sounds were multiple yells and shouts from the four brothers in front of her.  
"Sam can you hear me?" Donnie kept announcing.  
"I knew this would happen! I told you we should have let her stay home!" shouted Leo.  
"Dude are you serious right now? Like, how does that help?! " argued Mikey.  
"It's not that she's here, it's that she can't listen! She knew that if she was that weak then she needed to lay low!" bellowed Raph.  
"We shouldn't have left her alone!" countered Mikey.  
"Oh so I was supposed to drag her around like a doll?! She was weak Mikey and she needed to lay low! Do you even hear yourself?!" shouted Donnie.  
"Her life wouldn't have been at risk if she stayed home!" Leo yelled.  
"Stop targeting me like I planned this Leo!" Donnie shouted back.

"I'm sorry" Sam mumbled.  
That fast all the shouting and arguing came to a halt.  
"What happened?"  
"What hurts?"  
"What did they do to you?"  
"Where did you go?"  
Each brother asked their own question, over and over again, panic now flooding through their veins.  
"I ran…then I couldn't move…" were the only words that came out of Sam's mouth.  
"What the hell were you thinking?" Leo asked in a dark and pained tone.  
Sam felt her stomach twisting from her guilt.  
"I…wanted to help-"  
"And you thought killing yourself would be helpful?" Leo bit back,  
"Dude" Mikey said, nudging his brother, "back off."  
"He's right" Raph stated, glaring at Mikey. "She made a stupid decision."  
Leo then started glaring at Sam, though she could only see this in her peripheral vision as she continued to stare at the ground.  
"No 'help' is worth it if it means losing you in the process. I thought you had learned that by now. Especially if you're here on missions like this."  
Sam felt the glares from Leo and Raph. She was terrified to say anything, not that anything could justify her actions anyway.  
"Let's go" Leo said in a low and furry filled tone.  
The turtles stood up and waited for Sam to follow, only for her to continue sitting back and leaning on the tree they had her propped up against.  
"Sam?" Donnie asked.  
She continued to look at the ground as she spoke.  
"I still can't move" she said just loud enough for the group to comprehend what she said.  
Leo and Raph both clenched their fists as they stormed off. They would help carry Sam, but they both knew they would unintentionally carry her in a rather rough manner because of how pissed they were. They also knew Mikey would be more than happy to carry Sam back. No matter how pissed he was, they knew he would always be gentle with her no matter what. The group trudged through the forest as Donnie figured out where they needed to go to board a cargo plane back to New York.

It was going to be a long plane ride home.

**So, was Sam in the right or wrong to act out and keep using her powers even when she knew she shouldn't? And do you think she has been in control when using these powers, or are her powers controlling her?  
And wow, when you go back and watch these scenes over and over again, there is so much you realize you had never noticed before! Like I've watched this movie many, many times, but when I watch on my laptop and can rewind the same short scenes over and over again, there is so much you never realized was there. I tried to incorporate as much of that as I could into this chapter, especially so that it made everything make sense and come together smoothly. **

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! **


	12. Chapter 39

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #39

**Sunday June 7****th****, about 3:00p.m. Still in Venezuela, about to depart back to New York**

****It took Donnie about 20 minutes to track a route that lead to an airport where the group could secretly board another cargo plane. It was the sketchiest thing the group had ever done since they were basically traveling and boarding the plane in broad daylight. They found some tarp and covered themselves as Donnie, being the quickest, ran over to an abandoned cart the workers drove to transport extra luggage to the plane. The group boarded the cart under the tarp as Donnie quickly drove towards a plane he knew was leaving for New York (he knew this by hacking into the airports computer system and tracked which planes were leaving for where and when). Mikey continued to carry a paralyzed Sam, though she was slowly gaining back her ability to move, but it was extremely slow.  
It wasn't until 2 hours after the plane took off, about 5p.m. when Sam could officially move again. She thought this would be a reason for the boys to be happy, but this actually ended up causing more tension. Once she was able to move again the four brothers began arguing with one another, each brother blaming the other for something they did wrong during the mission whether it be something general or something in regards to Sam's safety.  
The arguing went on for what seemed like forever. It was now 7:30p.m. and the brothers were still arguing with each other. They were all so focused on their harsh words towards one another that no one had picked up on how weak Sam had become despite gaining back her ability to move.

"You think standing on the sidelines makes you some kind of hero?" Raph bellowed towards his youngest brother as they stood towards the further back section of the crowded plane.  
Sam had walked over and was about to lean on Raph's arm because of how weak she felt, only for him to walk away right before she did so. He was so furious with his youngest brother that he didn't even notice how weak his female friend looked as she stumbled and managed to catch her balance as she awkwardly leaned on the wall.  
"You can't just push past me like that bro!"  
"You were being a nitwit! You were gonna lose that thing!"  
"I wasn't!"  
"Yes you were!"  
"No I WASN'T!"  
The two continued to yell back and forth at each other, getting closer and closer as they both moved their arms and hands to convey just how upset they were with the others words. The only thing that got the two to stop was when they heard Donnie shouting even louder than they were.  
"I had it in my hand! I had it right in my hand and you acted as if I wasn't even there!" he shouted at his oldest brother who was sitting ahead of him. Just like his other brothers, Donnie was very physical as he verbally announced his frustration. And then just like him, Leo communicated the same way.  
Leo shook his head as he spoke.  
"It's not my job to make your presence known, alright? Get out of your head and communicate" Leo announced roughly to his brother, punching his fist in his hand as a sign of how frustrating it was for him that Donnie acted the way his brain told him to but without letting the others know what exactly he was doing (in this case, specifically telling Leo what it was he was doing before the two collided in the water).  
Donnie rolled his eyes and walked away and sat down as he crossed his arms across his chest. He was so annoyed with his older brother's words that he didn't notice that Sam had slowly made her way over towards where he was standing and went to lean on his shoulder before he moved away. Sam stumbled down onto the box below her, but landed so that it looked like she had meant for the landing to be so clumsy. Leo was so annoyed that he didn't notice how weak Sam looked and also overlooked her clumsy seating.  
Raph huffed from the back.  
"Well what do you expect? He's all logic and no skills."  
Mikey scowled at his red bearing brother.  
"Coming from the guys who's all instinct and no restraint" he said, swinging his arms in front of him to diss his brother.  
Leo waved his arm as he stood up and stormed past Mikey.  
"What do you know about anything? You're all heart and no brains!"  
Sam had been walking over towards Leo, but he had already stood up and stormed off towards the other side of the plane (attempting to sit away from his brothers but failing because of how tightly packed this plane was compared to the other). Sam just stood there. Her back was to the guys so none of them noticed, but her eyes began to close. She wasn't blacking out because of her powers, but because her body had just pushed itself to great limits that day in general. She was about to fall backwards when Mikey caught her. He was the only one who had noticed her stumbles and as he held Sam now he carefully pulled her with him so that she was sitting next to him. He put his arm around her and nestled her in so that her head was resting on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, the rest of the brothers were still arguing.  
"How could you?" Donnie asked in a gasp. "You may know a lot about strategy but you know nothing about feelings."  
Raph scoffed as he turned around.  
Leo bit his lip before turning to face the rest of his brothers.  
"Fair enough. You wanna know what I'm feeling?" he asked as he turned so that each brother met his gaze at least once, "we may be brothers, but we are NOT a team."  
Mikey rolled his eyes and then looked back down at Sam.  
"Whatever man. If you're gonna insult us some more then at least keep your voice down. Sam's trying to sleep" Mikey bit back in a low voice.  
This caught Donnie's attention and he darted his gaze towards the girl leaning on his brother.  
"She's not sleeping Mikey she passed out. Sam!"  
Donnie said as he quickly walked over and kneeled down in front of the duo, snapping his fingers in hopes that Sam really was just sleeping and that he was being paranoid.  
Leo's glare had softened into a concerned gaze as he watched Donnie start checking for Sam's pulse and pull out his flashlight to check her eyes.  
Raph, who had been angrily pacing in the back, now stood completely still as he also watched his brother look after Sam.  
Donnie moved back and sighed as he clicked the mini flashlight off.  
"I don't think she has a concussion or head trauma or anything serious like that. Her body's probably just so exhausted it clocked out on her."  
"She shouldn't have been part of this" Leo and Raph oddly said at the exact same time.  
Donnie was extremely upset at hearing this, and he could tell that Mikey felt the same way based on the glare he had aimed at the floor in front of him.  
"We're dropping this now" Donnie said in a cold tone. His voice wasn't high, but it wasn't a whisper. The neutral tone told the oldest two that now was not the time to share their complaints, and the fact that Donatello had switched from pouting to this bitter tone signaled how upset he truly was.

After this, the rest of the plane ride had been quiet. This was mainly because the boys were all furious with each other and were trying to remain calm after literally arguing for over a couple hours, but it was also because they were waiting for Sam to show signs that she was okay and wake up. It was mere minutes to 9:00 when the plane would be landing when Sam finally woke back up. She stirred slowly and was shocked to see the boys sitting silently and still like statues. This, plus Michelangelo's soft and kind expression when she woke up, made her think that the storm of hateful words had passed. Little did she know, what happened earlier was just a short preview of what was to come later on.

After the plane landed, the group caught a break to dash to their truck's hiding spot. They finally arrived back at the lair at about 9:40p.m. This was where the real "fun" began. Sam was feeling rejuvenated as she traveled back to the lair with the guys, but the voice she heard made her sick to her stomach from nerves.  
As the group made their way into the central part of the lair, sitting on the couch drinking tea with Splinter was Jay.  
As soon as the two sets of human eyes connected, the tea cup was set down and Jay was fuming as he rushed over to his sister.  
"Where THE HELL have you been!? Oh sorry Sensei" Jay said as he quickly bowed to the wise rat.  
"At ease my child" Splinter said with a kind smile. "I'll let you handle this amongst my sons. I'm going to go to meditate" he stated as he walked towards his room. He wanted to allow this time for Jay to complete his "parenting" on his own.  
"What's going on?" Leo asked in confusion since Sam had stated she called Jay and let him know what she was doing.  
"Sam where's your phone?" Jay asked sternly.  
"Uhhhh-it's in this backpack" she said, pointing to the bag on her back, "it's dead though-"  
"WHY?!"  
"Because I used the chargers for Donnie's machines."  
She turned to see Donatello staring wide-eyed at her, not happy with this answer.  
Jay covered his mouth with both of his hands and closed his eyes as he sighed.  
"Do you have any idea how many times I called you?"  
"Well I just said-"  
"11 TIMES. 11 times Sam. I've been calling you for hours. What the hell is this about breaking into police headquarters? A-and-and flying to Brazil?! What the hell have you been up to?! Where have you been?!"  
"Oh you gotta be kidding me" Raph scoffed out loud as he turned wide-eyed towards Sam (all his brothers looked at Sam this way now).  
Sam gulped.  
"Oh now you're worried huh?!" Jay shouted in frustrated excitement. "Tell them Sam. I want you to tell them right now."  
Sam looked down at her feet as she talked.  
"So, I did call Jay and I told him about what I was doing…over voicemail" she said, muttering the last part.  
"OH MY GOD"  
"WOOOOOOOW"  
The four turtles were saying one or the other of these two phrases as they all threw their hands up in the air.  
"Sam" Jay said softly.  
"Yes?" Sam muttered.  
"You're grounded."  
Sam groaned.  
"For two weeks."  
"What?!"  
"Absolutely no friend contact. That means no sports, no dance, and definitely no lair" Jay said as he violently shook his head.  
"Well that's unfair because that's just punishing these guys" Sam said in a cocky tone. She assumed at least Mikey would back her up, but this did not happen.  
"We're cool with it" he said calmly as he shrugged his shoulders.  
"Dude?!" Sam said as she glared at her best friend.  
This set the turtle off.  
"You LIED to us Sam! You lied to me! Straight to my face!" Mikey began shouting as he jabbed his finger between himself and the girl in front of him.  
"I called Jay-"  
"And it went to voicemail! Which he didn't get until after we left! You never told us that and you know the deal!"  
"Oh you mean the baby deal that I don't get a say in?"  
"Are you serious right now? Do you hear yourself?" Raph roughly cut in. "Are you seriously getting upset because people care about you?"  
"Let her act that way" Leo cut in, "She's staying back next time, regardless of what anyone else says."  
This last comment was aimed towards Donnie who had gone against Leo's orders in having Sam stay back in the first place, and like the genius he was, Donnie picked up on this instantly.  
He slammed his hand down on the table.  
"You wanna play this game? Alright, tell us how you really feel Leo. Since you're so perfect and can't mess anything up. LET'S GO!"  
"You said she could help and then you totally took advantage of her" Leo bit back.  
"HOW?!"  
"You kept making her do things that pushed her over her limits. Like why the hell was she under the plane?"  
"To help push it up!" Donatello acted out his actions as he spoke. "To keep it in the air! To prevent us from dying! And she did a freaking awesome job hence us still being alive!"

At this point Jay was sitting back and watching the brothers argue. He wanted Sam to see how much turmoil the brothers were in because of her decisions, but he was also curious as to where this argument was heading and what would be revealed.  
"So what, you couldn't solve the problem on your own?" Leo barked at his brother.  
"Are you seriously blaming me for not finding a way to stop gravity? Then again, I'm nothing but brains and no skill" Donnie said as he glared at Raph before glaring back at Leo, "so I guess I'm supposed to just alter how all physics works. Because that's all I'm good for, right?"  
"Dudes cut it out!" Mikey shouted. "Sam was fine when she helped with the plane. The real problem was her 3 blackouts."  
"Dude you don't have the right to say anything since you didn't help anyone ever" Raph said as he pushed Mikey to the side. "And those blackouts never would have occurred if we hadn't jumped out of a plane" he said, again, using his words to jab at Donatello.  
"Well if you would have jumped when I said to then Sam wouldn't have had to save your wimpy ass!" Donnie barked back. "And if you hate my plan so much then complain to Leo! He's our perfect leader so next time let him make every decision! I mean his is the only one that counts, right?"  
"I'm the leader! I figure out strategies and decide who's intel works best and when-"  
"TOTAL BULL!" Mikey shouted. "You do what you want, whenever it pops into your head! You can't call Donnie out on not communicating when you're the exact same way! You think of one strategy and then boom-bye Leo! See you later!"  
"At least I move and do something! Every time I looked back you were goofing around! You couldn't even hold onto the device for 2 seconds before it popped out of your hands" Leo scolded.  
"That's no fair! We were all being thrown around!"  
"Well you need to learn to defend yourself you dork!" Raph shouted. "You're such a dimwit you couldn't even warn me that a box was heading my way before I almost fell out of the plane."  
"I was looking for Sam!"  
"Great, so now we have to worry about you being distracted worrying about her" Raph said with an annoyed laugh.  
"Well you should be able to worry about yourself" Donnie snapped at Raph. "You should be on alert mode regardless of who's around you."  
"Not the point! Mikey shouldn't have needed to worry about Sam being in danger in the first place! That's why next time she's staying home!" Leo bellowed.  
"Cut the bull!" Mikey "we need her-"  
"What we need is to keep her safe, which you failed at doing when you let her head smash against the wall-"  
"Oh and you did such a great job keeping her safe when you and Raph landed on her and crashed into the floor! Yeah I saw that!"  
"Well then that's even more reason that she shouldn't have been there. If we can't even take care of ourselves and we're the ones hurting Sam-"  
"Ummmm no!" Donnie cut in, "Mikey and I brought Sam to safety at the rapids, you're the one who went off on your own without a word!"  
"Because it's not my job to babysit Sam when we push her so far that she passes out!"  
"We're a team!" Mikey bellowed, "we all help each other out!"  
"Oh yeah because you totally helped Mikey! What exactly did you do again? Besides sit back and goof off I mean" Raph snarled. "Sam was weak as hell and she did more than you! She was on the sidelines and still helped me reach Donnie in time to protect him. You were next to him and didn't do shit!"  
"What I'm hearing is that for a 5th time Sam saved one or all of us" Donnie said in a matter-of-fact tone.  
"And that she was safe on the sidelines!" Mikey chipped in.  
"Yeah, until she made the decision to throw herself into danger!" Raph barked back.  
"So what I'm hearing is that we can't trust Sam" Leo said, mimicking Donnie's tone as he stared at him.  
"WHAT?!" Donnie and Mikey hollered.  
"She was in a safe spot and then purposefully went over her already shortened limit and put herself in danger by attacking and gaining the attention of Bebop and Rocksteady! If she can't fight then she should be in hiding, and if she can't voluntarily hide and protect herself then we leave her home!" Leo argued.  
"How can you not see that Sam easily could have died?!" Raph added in furry.  
"How do you not see that without her we all could have died?!" Mikey fought back.  
"It has nothing to do with her, it's about us!" Donnie added to the argument. "We don't communicate and then it leads to chaos. You know, Sam and I talked before she saved Mikey, we talked before she kept the plane in the air, and she talked to Raph before he saved me!"  
"Great" Leo said as sarcastically as possible, "so that means we're a team that can't communicate with each other which results in us taking advantage of our most vulnerable member, and we make her do everything else for us because we can't work together and take care of ourselves."  
"How are we supposed to protect her when we can't even take care of ourselves?" Raph asked in disappointment.  
Leo waved his arm in front of him. "Add that to the list of reasons why next time she's not-"  
"ENOUGH!"

Sam's eyes lit up and huge wind gusts flew from her body. Jay was grateful that Raph was so close to him as he lunged and held onto Jay before the winds flew him back against the wall. The other brothers stood their ground as best as they could until the winds died down. None of them, not even Jay (being so caught up in the brothers argument), had realized that Sam was losing her cool as she heard the brother's arguing about her. She was hurt for so many reasons. She hated to see them arguing like this in general, but knowing that she was a main cause for it hurt her even more. She hated herself for not being able to help out more, she hated that she knew little to nothing about her powers, she hated that the brothers were blaming each other for not keeping her safe, and she loathed that she had no self-control in her body attacking Bebop and Rocksteady. And she knew that admitting this would just make matters worse, but for now the only thing on her mind was getting the guys to stop arguing the way they were.

"YOU!" she shouted as she stared at Leo, who in return was staring at her with a shocked expression. He definitely was not expecting this outburst, though he felt that at this point he shouldn't be so surprised.  
"Stop blaming Donnie like he scripted for everything to go the way it did! You're lucky he formed any plan where the plane didn't fall right out of the sky. I didn't see anyone else up there trying to fix it. And last time I checked you didn't communicate and say what you were doing when you went for the device in the water either! And if you EVER tell Mikey he has no brains again I will literally kick your ass!"  
"And YOU!" she shouted as she now turned and faced towards Raph, "Stop hating on your younger brothers! At least they have faith in me that I can help, which I DID SAVE YOUR ASS! So stop acting like I'm just a nuisance! Same with you!" she said, pointing back to Leo before she continued to verbally attack Raph. "And I'll kick your ass if you ever tell Donnie he has no skill ever again! HE'S SENSITIVE!"  
"And YOU!" she said as she now faced Donatello, "Leo didn't communicate in the water but neither did you! Yeah that's what happens when you bench me, I see everything! So no you didn't have it right in your hand, you didn't even touch it! Technically he did, you both were close but you idiots don't talk! Maybe if you guys would try to understand each other rather than just yell at each other than you would know how he really feels. The reason he's a total ass to all of you is because he cares!"  
"And you" Sam said in a low bitter tone towards Michelangelo, (in fact, this low tone sounded more pissed than the way she yelled at the others) "First of all, I'm flattered you worry about me, but you still have to worry about these dorks!" she said, rapidly pointing to the other three brothers. "Thank god Raph was okay, but worse things could have happened if he had fallen from the plane at a higher level, so pay better attention! And THANKS for having my back in regards to me being grounded. Like, okay yeah I know I broke the rules, but this was to retrieve ooze from the police so that it was held somewhere safe and couldn't harm people, and then Brazil was to retrieve a device so that we could PROTECT. THE. WORLD! I mean hey" she said in a sarcastic comical tone "I thought saving the world came first over calling my brother and getting permission, but obviously my thoughts don't matter. As long as I'm following the rules, right?"  
All the brothers, mutant and human, looked down or away from Sam. They agreed with her words and they all realized that had been harsh towards both her and the other brothers.  
Sam's verbal rampage was not over just yet though.  
"And hey" she announced as she faced all four mutant brothers, "if you have a problem with me, how about telling me about it instead of arguing about it while I'm standing right here. Oh, or would you rather me just sit on the sidelines and listen to you verbally attack each other and me not help? Because god forbid I get my feelings hurt or something. Or god forbid my powers take over again and try to keep you guys safe! Because that's freaking horrible!"

At that very moment, something clicked in Donnie's mind.  
"Sam"  
"WHAT?!" she shouted, obviously not ready to end her rant just yet.  
"What's going through your mind right now?" Donnie asked cautiously.  
"I just said it! Like, I literally just said a lot! Be more specific."  
"What are you most angry about right now, at this very moment. Of everything you just said, what upsets you the most?" he asked calmly, even though his friend was shouting at him.  
"Gee I don't know. Maybe the fact that you're all arguing because I couldn't control myself" she replied sourly, "I mean forgive me for thinking you guys could die and me just reacting without even realizing what I was doing" she said, waving her arms in front of her, moving with the anger inside her.  
Her words however now caught all the turtles attention.  
"Wait, what?" Leo asked. "When were we gonna die?"  
"When you went over the waterfall."  
"But, we're turtles" Leo stated, confused at what had concerned his friend so much that she went ballistic and threw herself in danger afterwards.  
"Yeah but you didn't know how high it was, or what was at the drop, you didn't know if you'd be safe or not."  
Wheels were spinning in Donnie's head as he walked forward and grabbed Sam's hand.  
"Come with me, right now." He needed to get her to the med wing right away and test to see if his theory was correct.  
"Not yet!" Sam yelled as she pulled away, "I'm not done bitching!"  
Donnie then grabbed her other arm and basically starting pulling Sam, like he was dragging a child who didn't want to leave the park.  
"Perfect" he replied, "keep talking as we walk."  
This got Sam to stop and she finally started walking with him towards the med wing outside the lair.  
Leo and Raph exchanged glances for a split second and then chased after their brother, with Jay and Mikey right on their tail.

They entered the med wing to see Donnie sitting and typing away on a computer while Sam had a helmet with some patches hooked up to her head.  
The remaining four boys just stood and listened outside the doorway, watching to see what exactly was happening and what Donnie was thinking.  
"When was the last time your powers took over?" Donnie asked as he paused his typing.  
"Ummmm, I wanna say police headquarters."  
"Why?"  
"…I don't wanna say" Sam mumbled, a bit embarrassed.  
"Tell him or its three weeks" Jay stated.  
Sam groaned. "I was pissed."  
"Why?" Donnie asked gently.  
"Because they called you monsters. That upset Mikey, and then that upset me. And then I thought how the rest of you were feeling, both how you guys actually felt and then how you were probably also pissed because that guy upset Mikey. The next thing I knew, Raph was carrying me out of headquarters and you guys were checking on me."  
Sam's eyes were now glued to the floor. Because of this, she didn't see the concern on the faces of the brothers in the doorway. Donnie would have had the exact same expression on his face, but right now he was masking these thoughts as he typed away on his computer.  
"Okay, when did they go off before that?"  
"Uhhhhh, oh, when Leo benched Raph and Mikey."  
Brows rose when they heard this.  
"When was this?" Donnie asked. He didn't remember hearing about this.  
"I felt them kicking in when Leo said his opinion was the only one that mattered. It was weird, like I could actually sense my powers kicking in and I was able to control them. But then they started getting stronger. It was the first time I actually felt them rising up before they took over."  
"You said an enemy was attacking" Raph added softly.  
Sam looked over at the group in the door way and stared at Raphael, her eyes stating that she wanted him to keep talking.  
"You said an enemy was attacking, that he was hurting me and bringing chaos into the family. I said that it was just Leo being a prick" (to which Leo pursed his lips and looked away, starting to get a bit flustered at constantly being called names like this). "I told you I had no injuries and you went back to normal."  
"Wait, so what was the exact reason your powers starting going off?" Donnie asked.  
Sam paused, remembering the situation for herself.  
"Raph got hurt…in a sense. That's the last thing I remember."  
"When did they go off before that? Can you remember?"  
Sam took a minute to generate her answer.  
"When I met Casey. I sensed someone had attacked Sensei and I thought he was in danger. Then Leo was holding me and Mikey's hands were on my shoulders. Apparently I had tried to hurt Casey because he was the first unknown face I saw and I thought he was an enemy trying to hurt Splinter."  
"How far does this go?" Jay asked. "These all sound recent."  
"The last one I can remember is when Donnie shocked Mikey. At least that's what Raph told me had happened and apparently I snapped."  
Donnie's eyes went wide for a second since he had no clue what she was talking about.  
"When was this?" he asked.  
"In the jumbotron. April called and Mikey was being a dork and apparently you shocked him and then that set me off."  
"Do you remember why?"  
"Mikey got hurt" Sam said bluntly.  
At this point all the boys were beginning to sense a pattern.

"It's based on emotions" Leo stated. "Right?"  
A small printer in the corner was now printing out colorful photos. The pictures displayed a cranial figure representing Sam's brain and which parts were lit up during the conversation. There was only one main chunk where a huge area was lit up in the picture.  
"That's the temporal lobe" Donnie stated as he looked over the scans that were taken throughout the conversation. "We finally have an idea as to how your powers work."  
"Sooooooooo what's happening?" Mikey asked, having no idea what was going on.  
Donnie turned around to face the rest of the group.  
"The temporal lobe handles multiple tasks, including those involving memory and emotions. There's the hippocampus which deals with long term memory, there's the limbic system which carries out the experience of emotions, there's the amygdala which deals with memory, decision making, and emotional reactions, there's the locus coeruleus which deals with physiological responses to stress and panic, there's-"  
"Spit it out Donnie" Leo urged.  
"I always thought Sam was set off specifically based on what she saw and heard alone, but it's not just her senses, it's how she processes them."  
"So, it's every time she's upset?" Raph asked.  
"Not just upset, specifically when she feels someone she cares about is being harmed. Her powers have gone off…8 times."  
"What?!" Jay asked. "List them. Now!"  
"The first time was when she was with me in my lab. I burned myself and she literally demolished the device that caused the burn. The second time was when she caught Raph chasing Mikey. The third time was when she caught Leo and Raph arguing and butting heads. Fourth time was me shocking Mikey. Fifth time was when she thought Casey was hurting Splinter. Sixth time was when Leo yelled at Raph right before we left for the museum. Seventh time was at police headquarters. The eighth and final time was when she saw us heading for the waterfall. Each time she thought someone was in danger and she felt a need to protect them. Her powers could even be connecting to past memories of needing to protect us and it just takes over and goes Hulk until someone calms her down."  
"Wait, hold up" Raph cut in, "that all makes sense BUT why would she freak out when I chased Mikey? She's seen that AND me and Leo arguing tons of times, but she only went crazy once for each situation."  
"It was out of context" Leo cut in, his eyes wide as the wheels in his head began to turn as well.  
"Sam was meditating with me when you were chasing Mikey. She didn't know what caused the argument. We were literally leaving my room and you two ran by us. And then when we were arguing-"  
"She was with Donnie in the med wing. She's always there when the fights start, but those times she wasn't" Raph said, now truly understanding how all this worked.  
"Plus this explains why she never freaks out during trainings" Mikey said with wide eyes, officially catching on to what his brothers were getting at. "She sees us sparring and knows we're not in any danger."  
"Has this been a normal thing?!" Jay announced. "Why have I not known about this?!"  
All eyes were now on Sam who was twiddling her thumbs.  
"I was going to tell you…but it either slips my mind or its bad timing."  
"How is your life bad timing?" Jay asked, fuming the entire time.  
"Dude, you're getting married and have a job while also advocating for the Foot Survivors organization. You have a million things to worry about, I'm not going to make them worse!"

Hearing this, Leo and Raph had to leave the room. They both walked back to their designated rooms, knowing that if they continued to stay that they would just start arguing again like they had earlier. They wanted nothing more than to keep their sister safe, but they couldn't fathom Sam's thoughts of hiding information. Maybe later they could try to talk to her about it, but they both knew that now was not the best time.

Mikey sighed with a saddened expression on his face. He was also worrying about his sister and best friend's behaviors and mindset as of late. He sensed that now was a good time to let Sam and Jay talk, so he also walked back to his room.

Donnie wore the same expression as his younger brother. He felt the same way and decided to let the human siblings share their moment. This was the perfect spot for them to talk since it was not located inside the lair but was still nearby. He pat Sam on the shoulder as he walked out of the room.

That just left the human siblings to share their moment in peace.


	13. Chapter 40

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #40

***Sunday June 7****th****, 10:00p.m.***

Sam and Jay were still sitting in the med wing. Each of the brothers had gone back to their own rooms and were taking this time to calm themselves down, so the two human siblings were all alone to handle their own business.  
Jay slowly shook his head as he stared at his sister, who was staring down at the ground and fidgeting with her fingers.  
"I just…I don't get it" he said as if he was in pain.  
Sam slowly lifted her head up to look at her brother.  
"Just…we're all the family each of us has left Sam…I thought you knew better than to hide things from me like this…"  
The guilt Sam felt was making her stomach hurt. She crossed her arms across her abdomen and pressed inwards, trying to ease the pain from her emotions.  
"You just have so much going on, and there's still so much about me that none of us understands yet. I didn't want you to worry and be ripped away from all the important things in your life-"  
"You are the most important thing in my life!" Jay bellowed. "Cut whatever this shit is about not wanting to mess up my life! The number one thing that could mess up my life is losing you!"

He tried to calm himself as he put his hands behind his head as he took deep breaths. He didn't want to upset her and hurt her more, but how could she not see that she was the most important thing to her? He was her sister, the last of his true family since his childhood. He had literally watched her grow since the day she was born. Hell, he had helped change her diapers since he was 7 when she was born. She was the new baby and Mrs. Allan saw how much he wanted to help care for her, so she taught him the different ways to care for babies. He had gained so much experience in learning how to care for both Sam and Chuck because of the age difference between all of them. And now that he was her legal guardian, in many ways it felt like he had raised Sam from the beginning, how could she not see that?

"Sam…I've cared for you since the day you were born…why would you now suddenly think I wouldn't want to know where you go and what happens to you?" he asked calmly.  
Sam's eyes fell back to the floor.  
"I remember you taking care of me when I was little. I remember you helping cut my food when we went out to eat. You always remembered to pack my coloring book and my crayons in the diaper bag so that I was never bored when the adults talked. I'd be broke if I had to give a dollar every time you tied my shoes or zipped up my jacket. But…that was because you wanted to play the big brother role…now there is so much more for you. You're going to have a wife, and knowing you two you'll be having kids soon after. You have careers you actually enjoy and are dedicated towards. You have a life that you deserve to live, I don't want you to lose that because you have to worry about me and my abnormalities from the mutagen…"  
"Sam…the reason I'm able to continue living and enjoy all those great opportunities is because you survived. When I thought you had passed on with everyone else the night everything went to hell…"  
Jay tilted his head back and ran his hands down his face in order to wipe away the tears that were pricking his eyes,  
"I was going to take my own life that night."  
Sam looked up at him in shock.  
"What?"  
"Life wouldn't have been worth living if you had left me to. As soon as the paramedics said that one of my siblings had a chance to live and was rushed to the hospital, that was the last match that kept my soul burning to stay alive. Knowing that you still had a chance to make it through that night was the only thing that kept me going. So don't tell me you want me to focus on the things I have in my life when you literally are the reason I still have my own life to live."  
Sam was speechless and her brother could sense this.  
He gave her a small smile. "I never decided that I had to take care of you Sam, I've always wanted to. I chose to help care for you when we were kids, and I want to take care of you now. Heh, you could be married with kids and I will still find ways for me to take care of you-"  
That fast Sam cut her brother off as she rushed forward and gave him a hug.  
"I'm sorry…" she muttered. "I know you care, I'm sorry" she said as she squeezed tighter as she hugged him.  
Jay pulled her in tightly as well.  
"I know you care, and that's why you make these stupid decisions," he said as they both let out a short chuckle, "but you need to tell me things. You need to keep me updated about everything."  
Sam took a step back.  
"I should have waited for you to get back to me, and I know I was in the wrong for only leaving voice messages, but-"  
"I know" Jay said with a nod. "I want to be mad, and I want to yell at you for leaving the freaking country before I even knew it, but I also know you're not a normal human anymore."  
"Anymore?" Sam asked with a questioning smile. "When was I ever?"  
Now Jay was smiling as well. "That's fair. You know what I mean though."  
He held onto her hands as he stood up and looked down upon his younger sister.  
"But you can literally be a super hero now. I want to protect you and keep you in my sight at all times, but I know that's unreasonable to have that happen. I mean god, you were lifting planes, and you were keeping people from falling out of the sky. As incredible as the guys are, it's obvious that they needed you."  
As much as Sam loved to hear these words come from her brother's mouth, she could also sense his sorrow as he spoke.  
"Hey, it doesn't matter what I can do. If you want me to stay back then I stay back. You're the reason I ended up staying on this earth as well, and if you need me by your side then I'm here for you."  
Tears began to form in the man's eyes.  
"I wish I could tell you to do that, but I know there will be moments where the world will need you just as much as I do. Just…please be careful, okay?"  
Sam shot his a confused look.  
"Wait…does that mean?"  
"Yeah, no more asking permission to go save the world. But you need to update me on whatever happens. Like about these blackouts. Maybe I can work with some of the guys and we can find ways to test these new findings out. And then I can update Donnie and he can study our info as well. But you can't hide stuff like this from me anymore, okay?"  
Sam nodded and hugged her brother once again.  
"I understand. And thank you, I know that can't be easy for you to say all that."  
"Oh I know eventually I'm going to kick myself for allowing this."  
The two laughed, knowing that at some point crazier events would occur where the turtles, or someone, would need Sam's help because of the abilities she had gained. Jay didn't like it, but he knew his sister could save people. He would be terrified every time she would be needed, but he also knew that she was the strongest person he knew in every way.  
This included her ability to connect with people, and he could sense that she wanted to use these social abilities right now.  
"Alright, I can sense you want to go on your apology tour. Go on, be a mature adult" he said as he waved his hand for her to leave.  
"Thanks big bro" Sam said before she turned on her heel and exited the med wing.

Jay sat down and leaned back in his chair. He was smiling, but now that his sister had left the room, the tears began to fall.  
"It's not easy being the parent, is it?"  
Jay whipped around to see Splinter standing in the doorway.  
"Sensei…"  
Splinter walked in and placed his hand on the man's shoulder.  
"It is alright to feel scared, terrified even, my son. It's never an easy decision to let our grip go from the ones we care about most."  
A few tears continued to fall as Jay spoke with the wise rat.  
"I know she can create change, and I want her to, but if anything ever happens to her…"  
Jay couldn't even finish his sentence because even more tears began to fall.  
Splinter whipped his tail to snatch a box of tissues and then carefully brought them over to the hurting man.  
"Thanks Sensei."

The old rat sighed.  
"Have I ever told you about the first night I caught the boys sneaking back in from a night out?"  
Jay shook his head.  
"It was silent, and I heard the tiniest creek. I jolted awake and checked on the boy's room only to see that they were all gone. The first thought that filled my mind was that something happened and they had been hurt. And what do I discover? They had all snuck out! Unbelievable!"  
Jay smiled and rapidly shook his head.  
"Ohhhh you wouldn't believe how livid I was the first time I caught Sam sneaking back in. I know how you feel."  
"You get so worried about them getting hurt, and then you find out that your loved ones were throwing themselves into danger instead! You think you know what's best for them, and you think that they can only be safe when you're nearby…and yet they told me about how they saved people who had been taken hostage by the Foot. They had taken matters into their own hands, but they were able to handle everything on their own."  
"Are you talking about when they met April? Because they told me about that and how furious you were with them" Jay said with a laugh as he imagined the huge muscular turtles looking scared as hell just like they had described.  
Splinter laughed the same way. "Yes, it was that night. And then the next day they fought the Shredder together. I wanted to be mad, I hated that they were fighting these battles…but at the same time I learned that I needed to trust my sons. I had taught them so much, and they had all grown into such skilled fighters with big hearts. I wanted things to go back to the way they were, where the boys couldn't leave the lair and had to stay down below…but I knew that the world needed them. I will always need them and I will never stop worrying, but at the same time, it was the time to start letting them go."  
Jay clenched onto his shirt right where his heart would be.  
"Does it ever hurt? Because it hurts now."  
Splinter nodded.  
"I have felt that way many times, including the other night when I heard the reports on the police scanner. My heart sunk, and I felt a lump in my throat. I was so scared of what would happen to them, to all 5 of them."  
"What got you through it?" Jay asked sincerely.  
"Confidence. Trust. Believing that as tough as the situation was, at least one of them would be able to figure out what to do in order to settle the situation. They all have their strengths, and together, there is nothing they cannot do."  
Jay nodded.  
"I know I need to start letting her go, I mean she is 17 now. She'll be in college soon. I can't keep monitoring her every move. I want to, I'll always want to, but I know I can't."  
Splinter placed a hand on the man's shoulder.  
"It's never an easy choice to make my son, but it is something us guardians know we must do. If we love the ones we care about, there are times where we need to let go. You have to trust that you have raised her to be able to defend herself and make the right choices as she continues to grow."  
"Our job is never easy is it?"  
"Ha! Never!" the old rat laughed.

The two continued to talk and reminisce for a while. It was midnight when they sensed a presence enter the room. The two turned around to see Leonardo standing behind them.  
"This a good time?" Leo asked.  
Splinter stood up and smiled. "It is time I head to bed. I'll leave you two be" he said as he stood up. He placed a hand on Leo's shoulder as he passed by him, right before the officially left the room.  
Jay nodded his head to the side, signaling for his companion to sit next to him.  
"What's up?"  
Leo pursed his lips together as he walked over and took a seat next to his human friend.  
"I'm sorry for letting Sam go with us without officially confirming you knew of her whereabouts. That was irresponsible on my part, and I apologize for not knowing that she had left with us without your approval."  
Jay couldn't help but smile. Leo was always so formal, and he would always appreciate Leo's honesty and sincerity. He understood what it was like to be an older brother, so he knew how Jay felt during situations like this.  
"It's not your fault. She knew better and she took advantage of your trust. But, I get why she did it. Sounds like you guys really needed her" he said with a raised brow.  
"*sigh* I'm not proud to admit it, but she saved our butts a few times today."  
Jay was nervous to ask, but he needed to know.  
"Hey…what happened at the end of your mission that got you guys so worked up about Sam joining you?"  
Leo paused for what seemed like an eternity before he finally gained the courage to talk.  
"Donnie could sense she was getting weak since she had used her power more today than ever before. He hid her in some brush by the side of the river where we were fighting. My brothers and I ended up falling down a waterfall, and apparently when Sam saw this from the sidelines, her powers took over because of her emotions. She fought Bebop and Rocksteady by herself…"

Leo unintentionally paused. He had just talked to Sam about this a little while ago, but the feeling of not being able to do anything to protect his sister still terrified him.  
"Leo?" Jay asked cautiously.  
Leo looked back up at him and his brows rose.  
"Oh, right. Sorry."  
"You okay?"  
Leo shook his head slowly.  
"No."  
"What happened?"  
"…we fell down the waterfall when Sam fought the mutants on her own. They're idiots, but they're big and stronger than my brothers and me. We didn't know what was happening. We rushed from the water as quickly as we could and we were running around looking for her. Thank god Donnie found her in the water. She was lying on a log that floating along with the current. She told us that as she was running from the mutants that her body just went numb and she couldn't move…we failed her."  
Jay leaned back in his chair. He had just talked to Splinter about learning to let go, yet now he told that Sam could have ended up with a tragic fate. What was he supposed to do?  
"It won't happen again. She told us you said she could go with us, but don't worry it won't happen" Leo said quickly, reassuring his pained friend that their sister would never be put in harm's way ever again.  
Jay, still leaned back in his chair, turned and looked towards his friend.  
"I did say she could go, and she will."  
Leo's eyes went wide.  
"Why?" he asked, an angered and concerned tone coming from his speech.  
"I was talking to your dad. He told me how it wasn't easy for him to let you guys go fight, but he knew that the world needed you. I'm terrified that something worse could happen to her, but I'm even more scared of what will happen if she doesn't fight."  
Leo paused for a moment and let the words he just herd sink in. He remembered having discussions with his father when the boys were officially told they could patrol the city. He and his brothers were thrilled that they were now allowed to help protect the people of the city. Donnie had even researched the statistics of the crime rates after the four began their nightly patrols and the number of crimes (or successful crimes) had decreased, and the number of criminals being locked up had increased. As proud and excited as he and his brothers were, he knew that they were all scaring the hell out of their father every time they left the lair.

"So dad talked to you about all that?" Leo asked softly.  
"Yeah. He worries about all of you, but he trusts that you will all make the right decisions in the end. I don't think I'm ready for that responsibility of letting Sam choose what's best for her, but I feel like my time is running out to keep making those decisions."  
"You're still her brother, you'll always have a say in what she does."  
Jay smiled at Leo.  
"I know, and that's why I told her to help you guys save the world. If I made it known I didn't want her to, then she wouldn't. There will be people out there that will need her just as much as I do. She can help, just like you guys can, I just have to stay strong and stay positive."  
Leo shot the man a small smile.  
"You're a good brother, she's lucky to have you."  
"Ohhhhh she's not gonna think that way when she's grounded. She's still gonna pay for leaving the damn country and not even officially telling me!"  
The way he spoke displayed how frustrated he was, but he was also smiling. He was pissed, but he was happy she made it home and that this could be a laughable moment.  
"You guys mind if I crash here tonight? Brenda knows I'm here and she's out with friends tonight anyway."  
"No problem, we have your 'spend the night' kit in the guest bedroom."

The two went to their individual rooms, thanked each other for the talk, and called it a night.

***Earlier that night, back to 10:00p.m.***

****Leo and Raph had gone back to their individual rooms. They were still very frustrated about everything that had happened recently. The lack of communication, the sneakiness, the blaming of everyone for everything that had gone wrong. Out of all the brothers, they were the two who were the worst at handling their upset and frustrated emotions. Raph paced back and forth in his room for what seemed like forever, and ironically, Leo was doing the same thing. They continued to blame everyone else, including the other brother, for many of the reasons that so many things had gone wrong lately. It wasn't until the two thought of Sam verbally blowing up at everyone that the two stopped pacing and instead just stood still.

Neither of them were proud of the words they had both said to the others in the group recently, and they began to rethink some of their actions as well. Hearing Sam yell at them the way she did was eye opening for the two hot heads. That was one of the unique qualities that Sam had, and not just in regards to these two individual brothers either. Without her realizing it, Sam somehow held this weight over the brothers where when she was truly upset or hurt, the brothers felt her pain. Not literally, but they would feel hurt whenever she did. They didn't understand it, and none of them could explain it no matter how hard they tried.

Seeing her so upset and share everything she did to the brothers finally made the two oldest brothers pause, breathe, and reflect on what they had said and done. Neither of them was thrilled about what would come next, but they knew that they had to go and apologize to each other and to the rest of the group. Leo left his room and began making his way over towards the opposite side of the lair. As he was about to cross the living room area, he looked up and was surprised to see Raph standing in the hallway to his and Mikey's bedroom.  
They both just stood there, looking at each other with blank expressions, neither of them knowing where to go from here.  
Leo nodded his head to the side. "Couch?"  
"Couch" Raph mumbled.

The two brothers awkwardly made their way over towards the couch and both flopped down onto the cushions of the opposite sides of the piece of furniture.  
They sat in silence, waiting for the other brother to begin the awkward and emotional conversation.  
"Are you gonna talk or not?" Raph asked, adding a little more sass to his tone than he intended.  
Leo squinted his eyes and stared at his brother.  
"Why do I have to talk first?"  
"Because you're the leader, AND the older brother" he said as he waved his hand in front of him as if this was common sense that Leonardo was supposed to know.  
Leo sighed. He went to open his mouth to begin the conversation, only to be cut off by Raph who blurted out "I'm sorry for sneaking into police headquarters okay?"  
Raph grunted and looked off to the side towards the lab, away from his brother.  
Leo looked down at his feet as he took his turn to talk.  
"I get why you did it."  
This surprised Raph as he turned back towards his brother and stared at him, curiously waiting to hear the rest of his response.  
"I cast you out, and I removed your input from an important decision. I'm sorry."  
Raph was now facing forward. He couldn't look at his brother when he was this peeved.  
"How could you do that? That mutagen could have changed our lives. How can you just leave two of your brothers out of the decision? Well technically all three since you told Donnie what to say rather than letting him talk for himself."  
"Because you know what you wanted, I know what you wanted, but you guys don't think of what can happen. Everyone thinks everything will run smoothly, but none of you consider the negative side. None of you consider what would truly happen and I was right."  
"Oh you were right?"  
"Yes! They hurt you, and Mikey! I knew that people wouldn't accept us but you guys never listen! I knew something like what happened at headquarters would happen and yet you all fought against me anyway and did whatever you wanted! You guys know what you want but you don't know what's best for you!"  
"And I guess you know exactly what each of us needs right?" Raph asked in a rather nasty tone.  
"Yes! I'm your older brother, to all of you! I know everything about each and every one of you! I mean do you really think I would deny this opportunity just because to teach you a lesson about accepting who we all are? Do you all really think I would deny an incredible chance for all of to live and experience your dreams just to try and teach you a lesson? Hell, letting you guys use the mutagen would allow you to further accept yourself as you adapt to new surroundings and get to act as your true selves without any secrets. I said no the mutagen because if anything goes wrong then all four of you will be crushed if you lose whatever you gain from being human, and what happened at police headquarters proved that I was right! People would accept us as humans, but once they see we're mutants than they want nothing to do with us unless it's hunting us down."  
Raph huffed.  
"You can't play the older brother card forever."  
Leo was confused.  
"What did you say?"  
"You always say you do stuff and that you know stuff because you're the oldest brother, but it works the other way around to."  
Leo was a bit shocked to hear this. He had always kept a close watch on his brothers in order to protect them, but, had they been watching him to? When?  
Raph was able to read his brother's expression and could sense his shock and confusion, so he continued to explain himself.  
"You're always watching over us, so that means we also have to watch over you. You think we don't pay attention to details but we do, and we all know that you want to be human to. You have ever since you were 10 and read that comic about the mutant samurai who lived with humans and had a wife and daughter. It was all a dream, but it gave him the courage to try and work with humans in the real world, and he succeeded in doing so. You make it sound like we're the only ones who want to be human, but you want a life like that just as much as we do."

Leo just sat there speechless. He never knew that his brothers knew about his dreams that resided from reading that comic book.  
"If you knew how I felt, why didn't you say anything?" he said as he turned his head to look at his brother.  
Raph let out a light chuckle.  
"Because you're like me, you don't talk about emotions unless thoroughly provoked. It's easier to act tough and keep it bottled up until someone realizes it needs to come out. And even then it can turn into something ugly. You know, like telling your brothers that their opinion doesn't mean shit" Raph said with a smirk and raised brows.  
Leo pursed his lips and looked away once again.  
"It's okay," Raph said, "I could tell by your face you regretted it the second you said it."  
"I should have known better. About hiding information from you, about how to talk you down. I should have explained my thoughts then and there, both about you guys and my own fears of wanting a human life and the consequences of losing it" he stated somberly.

Raph could sense the pain in his brother's voice and pat his hand on his brother's shoulder.  
"Hey, I told you it's okay. We're the same when it comes to showing emotions. You seem like an ass, but it's because you're trying to protect us. You would never purposefully hurt us. I know it because I've been there more times than I'd like to admit…"  
He began to pull his hand back towards his own body as he looked down and glowered towards the floor.  
"…and that means I shouldn't have argued with you the way I did, and I shouldn't have gone against you and snuck into headquarters."  
Leo looked over and saw how hurt his brother was about his actions.  
Leo chuckled. "Looks like we both messed up big time."  
Raph gave a small yet still depressed smile that mimicked the expression his brother was displaying.  
"And worst of all, we didn't just mess with each other, but we hurt Mikey."  
"I know" Leo said as he squeezed his eyes tight. "Did you see his face the night it happened?"  
"No, thank god. I probably would have done worse shit than Sam if I had. But his voice alone was brutal to hear."  
Leo stood up from the couch and turned around, holding his hand out to Raph.  
"We should go check on him, make sure he's okay after everything that's happened."  
Raph smiled as he took his brother's hand.  
"Agreed."  
"Wow, you're agreeing with me. Shows how serious this is for you" Leo teased.  
"Shut up and lead the way" Raph said as he playfully shoved his brother forward.

A minute later the two were standing in front of Mikey's door. Leo carefully twisted the know and cracked the door open.  
"Is it safe to come in?" Leo asked.  
"Yup."  
Leo pushed open the door and saw his baby brother reading comics books in a bean bag chair in the corner of the room.  
"Hey, can we talk?"  
Mikey looked up with a dull expression, but this soon changed to a more serious look once he saw both his eldest brothers enter the room.  
Raph shut the door behind him and then walked over and sat in a bean bag chair next to Mikey, while Leo sat in front of the two brothers.  
"Um, whatever happened, I didn't do it" Mikey stated.  
The older two began to laugh.  
"You're not in trouble you dork" Raph said, "we're just checking on you."  
Mikey squinted his eyes.  
"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"  
"Because you've been through a lot lately, and we want to make sure that you're truly okay" Leo calmly stated.  
Mikey was honestly confused, but this was because he just moved on from depressed moments rather quickly if it wasn't anything too serious that had occurred.  
"Um, what exactly have I been through lately?"  
"I shouldn't have brought you to headquarters with me" Raph said with a gloomy expression.  
Now Mikey understood why they were concerned.  
He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.  
"Guys, it's no big deal-"  
"But it is," Leo cut in, "because you've always dreamed of getting to live a life where you can interact with others. You're a natural born people person and yet you can never be around people. And we know that what they said at headquarters damaged your dreams of getting to meet and communicate with humans."  
The youngest brother paused as his gaze was now aimed at the floor.  
"It is what it is, you know? We have Sam, and Jay, and April. We don't need anybody else. If monsters is what they see then that's just how it is. That doesn't mean I can't dream anymore. As long as I'm breathing then I can dream whatever I want to. No one can change that" he replied with a small smile.  
Leo and Raph both shot each other a glance that displayed their pride and also their sorrow for their younger brother. They were proud of him for not giving up and for continuing to dream of a life where he was surrounded by others, and they were also proud of his abilities in being able to see the bright side to such saddening situations. However, it also hurt them how he had to force himself to realize how the majority of the world would always see them. This realization from their youngest brother was as heartbreaking to them as hearing him say 'we're not monsters' the night the cops went to attack them at headquarters.  
That's when Leo remembered something that Sam had told him on the plane.  
"But not everybody thinks were monsters" Leo mumbled to himself.  
Mikey shook his head.  
"Don't worry bro, you don't have to lie to me about it" he said in a genuine tone.  
Raph's eyes went wide as he realized what Leo was getting at.  
"No, Sam said that there were people who wanted to meet us. Like, hundreds of people that know we exist that were forced into the Foot clan" Raph stated, enthusiasm creeping up into his voice.  
"What?" Mikey asked  
"I knew you two were listening in on us" Leo said as he smiled and shook his head at Raph.  
"Guilty as charged" he replied with the same expression. He then turned towards Mikey. "Donnie and I were spying on Sam and Leo while they were talking when we were on the plane."  
"Ohhhhhhh, where was I?"  
"Asleep."  
"Darn" Mikey pouted. He then displayed a confused expression and looked back up towards Leo.  
"But, what did you mean there are hundreds of people who want to meet us?"  
"Sam said that there are hundreds of people from the Foot survivors who have seen or at least heard about us, and they want to meet us and thank us for helping rescue them and bring down Shredder" Leo calmly stated. He wasn't quite sure how Michelangelo would react to this news. He wasn't sure if the youngest would be thrilled to hear the good news, or if he would be become irrational from not knowing about this information sooner. Of course, Raphael didn't consider this as at all when he spoke.  
"Yeah, and apparently Sam tried to tell fearless for a while about these people and he just ignored the idea as soon as he heard it involved other people" Raph scoffed.  
Mikey shot his oldest brother a despondent pouty face.  
"Thank you Raphael" Leo groaned as he bit his lip. "I talked to Sam about it and apologized for always immediately shutting the idea down. BUT the main reason I brought it up is because that means there are other people out there that think we're heroes, and NOT monsters" he said with a reassuring smile.  
The smile on Mikey's face seemed like it would never stop growing. He couldn't believe that there were people out there that wanted to meet him and his brothers.  
"Tch, of course we couldn't have met any of those people the night we broke into headquarters" Raph mumbled.  
"But there are people that care about us, that's all that matters" Mikey said cheerfully, "and that means the dreams can live on."  
Hearing this, the two older brothers believed that overall their baby brother would be alright, but there were still things they needed to apologize to him for.

"Mikey, sorry for what I said on the plane, on our way home…" Leo trailed off, ashamed at what he said to his brother.  
Mikey titled his head in confusion.  
"Ohhhhh!" he said with wide eyes, "you mean 'you're all heart and no brains'" he said with a grumpy face and in a low voice as a means to mock Leonardo.  
"Yeah, that" Leo sighed.  
"Uh, I wanna apologize to, for saying that you didn't work hard enough on our mission" Raph said as he rubbed the back of his head, also feeling ashamed at how he had downed his brother.  
Mikey had returned to looking confused.  
"Ummmm, you guys insult me all the time. Why are you apologizing for it now?"  
"Because we took it too far this time" Raph said.  
"And it only made everything way worse than it already was" Leo added.  
Mikey chuckled as he spoke.  
"You guys are only saying that because of how dramatic everything has been lately. You guys realize you have said wayyyyy worse things to me in the past, right?"  
Both the older brothers felt a slight blush come across their cheeks. Had they really been that harsh towards their baby brother?  
"Well, we'll watch ourselves from now on, okay?" Leo asked gently.  
Mikey rapidly shook his head. "Dudes, no way! Don't change the way things are! Like, we live in this weird cycle where I annoy you with pranks, and so you guys fight me as payback, then I joke around during training to piss you off for fighting back, then you kick my ass. Like it's just normal at this point."  
"And that's a good thing?" Raph asked.  
"Yes! It's what we do! That's how older brothers and younger brothers get along! Sam said she was the same way with her siblings all the time."

The two older brothers pat their youngest brother on the back as they began to stand up. As silly and dorky as Mikey could be, moments like this truly displayed how mature he truly could be. More than anything they were just happy to see that their brother was alright and was not truly hurting from anything that was said to him.  
At the same time, hearing Sam's name made the oldest two realize that there were still others they needed to apologize to.

"Wait" Mikey said as he stood up, stopping his brothers before they could leave the room.  
Raph shut the door that he had just opened, and both brothers turned back around so that they were facing their youngest brother once again.  
Michelangelo began to fidget with his fingers as he talked.  
"Sorry for not trying to see things your way about bringing Sam with us on missions. Just…she's freaking awesome man, and she's one of the greatest fighting partners anyone could ever ask for. I thought she was ready and that we were ready to bring her with us…but, I don't want to lose her…" his voice trailed off, the sorrow in his tone matching the sorrowful thoughts in his mind as he spoke.  
Leo walked forward and stood in front of his brother. He placed his hand on his youngest brother's shoulder, which gained the youngest brother's attention and guided him to look up at his oldest brother.  
"Hey, the important thing is that she made it back. We found her and we brought her home-"  
"Yeah but what if we didn't? What if we couldn't save her? I mean I obviously am no help since I couldn't even protect my own brothers" Mikey said as he pulled away from his brother's grasp and walked over towards the opposite side of the room, continue to fidget with his fingers as he did so.  
"Mikey I never should have told you that" Raph stated.  
"Why? It's true right? I blew it and we could have lost people because of it-"  
"BUT WE DIDN'T" Leo stated firmly. "You made mistakes, hell we've all been making poor choices around here lately. But we ALL made it back, and that means we all get a second chance."  
Mikey caught his breath, not realizing how choked up he had gotten, and then nodded his head towards his brothers.  
"Got it…thanks guys" Mikey replied, swinging his arms forward and back as a means to help calm himself down.  
Leo and Raph both walked over as they participated in giving their brother the typical bro hug.  
"So now are you officially good?" Raph asked, teasing his brother.  
Mikey nodded, a genuine smile reappearing on his face.  
"Yeah, I think so."

"You coming with us to talk to Donnie?" Leo asked.  
"Ummmmm nah, I'll talk to him later. Right now I'm just gonna chill here."  
Leo and Raph both shot each other a questioning yet joking look before they continued to exit the room.  
"Don't worry Mikey, she'll be in here soon" Leo teased.  
"Hehe…what?" Mikey nervously chuckled.  
"Bye baby brother" Raph said with a devilish smile as he shut the door behind him as he left the room.

Leo and Raph both shook their heads as they walked away towards the lab.  
"Does he think we're stupid and don't realize that he's waiting for Sam to come visit him?" Raph teased.  
"Nah, you know he plays dumb when he gets nervous" Leo replied with a smile.  
"Wow, he must be nervous all the time then" Raph mocked.  
Leo scoffed at his brother and playfully slapped him on the back of the head. This then lead the two to playfully fight each other the rest of the time it took them to walk to Donnie's lab.

It felt nice that things were slowly beginning to return back to normal.

**I apologize if this chapter seems short and rushed. Honestly, I've been wanting to write for over a month (maybe it's been two, like idek at this point) and I've had so much work to do that it's been impossible for me to update the story  
The life of teacher majors man, it's crazy stuff. -_- /O.o\**

**So I wanted to update at least something in case I disappear because for the next moth I'll be taking two summer courses while also working while also attending family and friend events on the weekends. Like it's going to be a fun summer for me, I know that, but I want to write this story to the point that it makes me upset when I can't. Like this fic is my guilty pleasure and it sucks when I can't update anything at all for months.**

**BUT I finally was able to add a little something. I basically broke this chapter into two halves so I could update something before I head back. Thank you to any and all who have continued to read my story even though I've disappeared for so long. Again, I promise this story has a lot that will be added over time to it, and I hope you all continue to enjoy the crazy roller coaster of events that the characters will experience. **


	14. Chapter 41

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TENT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #41 

***Earlier around 10:40***

****Sam wasn't sure which of the brothers she should talk to first. As she was making her way back into the lair, she heard Leo and Raph's voices coming from the hallway that lead to Mikey and Raph's rooms, so she decided she would go check up on Donnie.

She walked over towards the lab and knocked on the closed door. Sam heard footsteps and seconds later Donatello had opened the door. He gave her a small smile and nodded his head backwards, signaling for her to come in.  
Sam had sat on an empty space on one of the work tables, and once Donnie had shut the door, he took a seat in his desk chair.  
"Did things go okay with your brother?" he asked gently.  
Sam happily nodded. "Overall yeah. I told him that I should have been more respectful and that I just didn't want to stress him out even more, and we had a long talk about that and how I come first. And then he talked about how it will scare the shit out of him but that he actually will allow me to go on missions with you guys without updates."  
Donnie's eyes went wide.  
"Really? What changed?" he asked as he leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.  
"He said he wasn't happy with how I handled things, but he understood why I snuck around the rules and still went with you guys anyway. He's glad I was able to help keep you all safe and that you guys protected me as well, and that he believes I can help you guys keep the city safe."  
Donnie chuckled.  
"Reminds me of when Sensei finally decided to let us patrol the city at nights on our own. He was terrified to let us go, but he knew people would need us as much as he did."  
Sam snapped her fingers and pointed at Donnie.  
"Dude, that's exactly what Jay was talking to me about. He told me he wanted me to help those in need and that that meant I wouldn't always be able to wait for him to give me an official okay to take action."  
Sam waited for a reply from her friend, but all he did was lean back in his chair and nervously fold his hands in his lap.  
Sam pursed her lips and displayed a gloomy look.  
"You don't want me on missions with you now, do you?" she asked.  
His head quickly snapped up as he looked at her with an irked expression.  
"Okay, don't do that."  
"Do what?" Sam asked.  
"Don't act like I don't want you on missions. Of course I want you to join us on missions."  
"Then what's with your body language dude?" Sam asked, slightly playful, slightly serious in the tone she used.  
"Just…I should have been more careful. Neither of us knew what your limits were and yet I had you completing crazy difficult stunts to help us. I should have known better. Maybe Leo was right, maybe I was taking advantage of you."  
"NOPE! Wrong answer" Sam replied rather loudly.  
Donnie's face scrunched up.  
"This isn't a game Sam."  
"I never said it was, I'm just saying that this is one of the few times that you're wrong."  
Donnie sat there quietly, waiting for the girl to explain herself.  
"Donnie, you're literally the smartest person I know. That means that any decision you made out there was one that could drastically change the outcome for the rest of the mission, meaning that if you lead me to do anything out there, then that means it was the last resort decision and that there was absolutely no other solutions to keep everyone alive and safe."  
"But…what if there were other solutions? What if there were other ways to solve the problems we faced and instead I just relied on you because I knew your powers could help?" Donnie began to ask rather frantically.  
Sam paused for a few seconds before another smile formed on her face.  
"Alright Mr. photographic memory. Close your eyes and imagine we're on the place as it's about to crash. Look at everything around you and try to come up with a different solution that still keeps us safe, but doesn't involve me in any way. Tell me what you can come up with."

Donnie closed his eyes and pictured everything around him. He pictured everything from the cock pit (or at least everything that was left of the cock pit), he pictured the layout from what remained throughout the rest of the plane, he pictured the outside layout of the plane, and he pictured all the gear that he and his team had packed. He sat there for what seemed like years as he tried to figure out any other solution that could have been used that would have prevented Sam from putting her life at risk.  
Finally, he opened up his eyes and sighed.  
"I can't think of anything. Not one damn thing that we could have done to keep you safe" he said as he groggily flopped back against his chair and aimed his gaze up at the ceiling, annoyed that there was nothing he could have done to better protect his sister and his friend.  
"But don't you get it?!" Sam said with excitement, "that means you guys needed me! It means that you all would have been in danger if I wasn't there. Don't you see that as a sign that we all made the right choice in letting me join you on the mission?"  
Donnie paused as he looked forward and saw how excited Sam was that she was able to help protect him and his brothers.  
"You sure like playing the hero role, don't you?" he smirked.  
Sam chuckled.  
"Playfully, hell yeah I want to be the badass hero. Seriously, I just want to know you guys are safe" she said honestly.  
Donnie sighed.  
"Still, things need to change if you're going to continue joining us on missions like that. Luckily we all made it out okay, but if we had been facing a different villain then things might not have ended quite the same way that they did."  
Now it was Sam who displayed a nervous expression as she spoke.  
"I know, and I'm sorry for scaring you all like that."  
"Hey," Donnie called out, to which Sam looked up at him, "you didn't understand your powers just yet, and neither did we. It wasn't your fault. The important thing is that you made it out okay and that you're here with us now."  
Sam smiled at the turtle in front of her.  
"Thanks D. And don't worry, now that I better understand my powers, that means we can conduct better tests with more informative results."  
"Oh I'm definitely going to enjoy that" he replied with an even wider smile, excited for all the complicated tests he and Sam would eventually set up in order to truly test her abilities.

Just then, the lab door creaked open as two sets of eyes slowly and gradually peeked in.  
"Hey, this a bad time?" Leo asked.  
Donnie shook his head and waved for his two brothers to enter the room.  
"You're both here, perfect" Raph said.  
"Sarcasm or serious?" Sam questioned playfully.  
Raph squinted his eyes at her and replied with "serious."  
"What's up?" Donnie asked as he continued to sit in his chair.  
Raph leaned back against the table where Sam was sitting, and Leo had sat down on a nearby swivel chair that was almost right next to Donnie.  
"We just wanted to check up on you, and to apologize for how we treated you" Leo stated calmly. "To start, I never should have made you keep secrets from the others. I thought that hiding them from the surface-"  
"Would prevent them from losing all hope of actually getting to live lives where they could interact with humans and live out their dreams?" Donnie questioned as he cut Leo off.  
Leo scoffed.  
"That's right, you two were eavesdropping on Sam and me" Leo said as he bit his lip.  
"I knew it! Ohhhhhh I knew it!" Sam said as she pointed back and forth between Raph and Donnie, and then playfully shoving Raph who was closest to where she was sitting.  
"ANYWAY," Leo continued, "I should have let you and the others join in on the decision of what to do with the ooze, and it wasn't fair turning you against the other two like that."  
Donnie smiled and nudged his brother.  
"It's fine. I wouldn't have followed along if I didn't have some sense as to your intentions. I know you're strict, but I know you're hearts always in the right place, especially when it comes to all of us."  
He then turned his head towards Raph.  
"I'm sorry I held information from you though" Donnie said, disheartened.  
Raph shot him a small smile.  
"It's all good D, you were just following orders. Knowing you, you were doing what you thought was best for the rest of us."  
Leo shot both brother's a small but genuine grin. Donnie was displaying the same expression at first, but then his slowly switched to an uneasy look.  
Donnie was fidgeting with his fingers, as though silently cracking them, as he began to speak.  
"I'm sorry to, about what happened with the device at the river. I just, I made sure, well I thought Sam was safe and then I saw the device and I just went for it. I didn't try to signal anything to you and that's unlike me" he said solemnly.  
Leo leaned back in his chair as he shook his head.  
"No, that's exactly like you. You analyze a situation and in seconds you react. Thinking like that could save one of us. Looking around to signal someone could be the split second move that leads to one of us getting killed one day. The fact that you were able to pinpoint the device and maneuver towards it within seconds from so far away is actually impressive, well impressive for someone with normal intelligence. That's just typical Donnie to all of us" he said with a smirk, which gained a low laugh from the adjacent turtle.  
"Unfortunately," Leo continued, "I just happened to find an alternate route at the exact same time you found yours. Sadly it just happens that way sometimes. It doesn't help that I just jump right into action and completely forget about the rest of you though" Leo said as he looked away from his brother and instead directed his attention to the computer screens beside him.  
Donnie smirked as he simultaneously shot his oldest brother a questioning look.  
"Do you realize how hypocritical that statement was?" he asked, slightly teasing his brother.  
Leo, confused, looked back at Donnie with scrunched features.  
"What?"  
"You just told me that it was a good thing that I was able to react so quickly and that one day it could save one of our lives, yet you just downed yourself for doing the same thing."  
Leo nodded his head. "True, but in my case I didn't pay attention to where any of you were, I just acted."  
Donnie pursed his head and nodded, then suddenly his eyes widened as he came to a conclusion.  
"Alright, sounds like the only way we can learn from this is to do a quick 360 before we officially act. That way we double check and see who needs help, and if everyone is good then just as fast we act and do what we need to do. Deal?"  
A true and wide smile formed on Leo's face as he held his fist outward.  
"Deal" he replied while Donnie completed the fist bump.

"Huh, well what do you know?" Sam stated, "Leo just stated that what Donnie did proved that he has skills, quick reactions skill that are an extremely good thing. Isn't that funny Raph?" Sam said rather loudly (on purpose of course) as she then punched Raph in the shoulder (playfully, but still purposefully rough enough to make him wince).  
Of course, Raph knew what she was getting at. He tried his best to turn towards her with a somewhat calm expression (and without holding onto his throbbing shoulder) as he spoke.  
"I was going to let them finish talking before I did SAM" Raph said, attempting to whisper, but more so grunting and making his voice louder than he intended to.  
"Well I'm done" Leo said bluntly, lowly raising his hands up in the air.  
"Perfect" Raph grunted. He then looked over towards his younger brother and sighed.  
"Don, you know I'm an ass right?"  
"I know that very well" Donnie chuckled.  
"So, you know I say shit I don't mean because I'm an ass, right?"  
"Sounds like a personal problem" Donnie said, nodding his head as though this had become a therapy session and he was the therapist.  
Raph couldn't help but smile at his brother's reaction.  
"I never should have said what I did on the plane. You've obviously got skills. Hell, you've used them to kick my ass more times than I'd like to admit" he said, gritting his teeth and rubbing the back of his head as he remembered past trainings where he had lost to his brother.  
Donnie rapidly pat his hands on his knees.  
"Yes! Why didn't I think of those times! I always think of good comebacks AFTER the fight. I'm that guy" he pouted as he slumped back into his chair.

Now that Raph could tell that Donnie was feeling better, he then turned towards Sam, knowing that he needed to apologize to her as well.  
"I shouldn't have acted the way I did to you either" he said as he looked up at her for a quick second and then directed his gaze towards the floor seconds later.  
Sam tilted her head in confusion.  
"What are you talking about?"  
"The way he talked to you when your powers took over," Leo cut in, "and I'm sorry to."  
"We both treated you like crap, and it wasn't even your fault" Raph added.  
Sam fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke.  
"Yeah, but you guys didn't know that" she replied glumly.  
"Doesn't mean it was okay for us to talk to you like that though" Raph said roughly as he looked back up at her. His angry tone wasn't aimed at her, but rather at himself as he regretted the way he had spoken to her within the past so many hours since the incident.  
A small grin appeared on Sam's face as she looked back and forth between the oldest two.  
"But that's just how you both show you care. Yeah your tones can sound dark, but that's how pissed you guys were that I could have gotten seriously hurt. I don't blame you. And sadly I really could have damaged my future. I was lucky things panned out the way they did, but things could have gone wrong, and fast. I should have stayed where Donnie left me. I could have helped without literally jumping into the fight."  
"Well, let's look at the bright side," Leo said, "maybe all this was supposed to happen the way it did. Because of your reaction, we learned more about your powers. This means that we can incorporate this information into your future trainings, since I already know you two are planning how you can further test this newly learned information out" Leo chuckled as he looked back and forth between the two nerds in the room.  
Sam's grin was now a beaming smiled as she continued her apology.  
"Still, no matter where I am, I'll try to better control myself now that I know what sets my powers off, I promise."  
"It might be awhile before you join us on missions though" Donnie said.  
Sam's expression became grim.  
"What? Why?"  
"Because I'm not letting you go back out there with us if there's a chance your powers could take over like they did this time, or if you're going to keep having blackouts, like, what was it 7 times? You're not joining us again until we thoroughly test your abilities. Leo was right, I was asking you to do things that could have put your life in danger" Donnie said as he tightly crossed his arms, pained by the thought of losing his sister because of his commands during the mission.  
"But even Jay said I could join you guys from now on" Sam said in a rather demanding tone.

All heads snapped towards her and eyes were wide as they glued themselves towards staring at hers.  
"Jay? As in your brother who was shouting at you earlier for not updating you on where you were?" Raph asked.  
"The brother that was furious that you left the country and could have gotten seriously injured during the mission?" Leo asked.  
"The brother who was fuming because of how many secrets you were keeping from him?" Donnie asked.  
"YESSSSSAAAA!" Sam groaned. "I talked to him and he said he understood why I acted without waiting for his response, and he understood that I helped save all your butts! Which none of you can deny that" she said, strictly pointing at each one of the turtles in the room.  
Leo stood up from his chair.  
"I'm going to go talk to him, just to make sure we're all on the same page."  
Raph and Donnie nodded their heads in approval, which just made Sam roll her eyes. She then jumped down from the table and also began to walk towards the door.  
Leo looked at her and rose a brow, questioning her as he asked "what? Are you going to intervene and change your story before I talk to him?"  
Sam squinted her eyes, taken aback by the comment.  
"No, I'm going to go talk to your younger brother." She then turned back towards the middle brothers. "You guys coming?"  
Donnie shrugged.  
"I think Mikey's the only one I never had any beef with this whole time, so I'm just gonna head to bed and end the day on a good note."  
Raph smirked.  
"Leo and I already talked to him, so he's all yours" he said as he used his arms to guide her towards the exit as though she was a celebrity on the red carpet.  
"Psh, whatever" she said as she playfully pushed by him. "Night guys!"

With that, Leo headed towards the med wing to talk to Jay, Sam headed towards Mikey's room, and the remaining two brother's headed towards their bedrooms to call it a day.

***In Michelangelo's bedroom***

****Sam knocked on the door and then turned the handle. She then paused before ever so slowly cracking the door open.  
"May I come in?"  
Once Mikey heard her voice, his head shot up and his comic was sent flying across the room. Oddly, this was his way of getting rid of all distractions so that he could focus on his friend.  
Sam took that as a yes and entered the room, shutting the door behind her.  
"Hey, how was the talk with your brother?" he asked.  
Sam grinned. "It went well, he said I could join you guys on missions without updating him."  
Mikey stood there, frozen. His jaw had dropped slightly from the shock of what he had just heard.  
Sam turned away, visibly upset.  
"No no no it's not that I don't believe you!" Mikey rushed to say, "it's just, I'm surprised he would say that so quickly. I mean, wasn't he as scared as we were? He heard about everything that happened…"  
"Yeah, and he also admitted that I had saved each of you multiple times during the mission. I mean jeez without me then the entire plane would have fallen out of the sky! All of you would be gone, and I helped out in more ways than just that. Jay knows that I can help people the same way you four can" she said sternly.  
"I know that" Mikey replied in a similar manner, "but just, you don't get it Sam" he said as he shook his head. He then turned away, his hands behind his head, as he walked back towards his bed and flopped onto his back.  
"Then explain to me what I don't understand" Sam persisted as she marched over and stood next to the bed. "What, do you just not want me on missions now? Is that why you were really shocked?"  
"What?!" he said as he shot up and sat upright.  
"Makes sense, you assumed I wouldn't be joining you anymore and now you're shocked that I was given an okay."  
"I'm shocked because you going on missions again means I could have to see you like that again."  
"See me like what?"  
"Dead Sam!"

Sam paused. She opened her mouth as to say something, but then quickly closed it. She didn't know how to respond to that, and she was afraid to. Obviously she had hurt her friend more than she had realized.  
"I mean, I'm the one that vouched for you and encouraged the others to let you train with us and join us on missions back when we first met. You really think I don't want you to go with us?"  
"I-"  
"Well you did, you said it" Mikey cut her off.  
"…what went through your mind when you saw me in the river?" Sam asked softly, realizing that her best friend needed to speak of this or else it would ride on his shoulder for a long while.  
She sat down on the bed near where his legs were spread out so that she could face him as they talked.  
Mikey sighed. "I don't know how to explain it. It was just, dark. Like I completely stopped moving and Raph basically almost ran me over."  
"Like when you were watching the Halloween parade in the sewers?" she asked, remembering how Raph had almost collided with Michelangelo in the sewers just days beforehand.  
"Exactly like that! Like, just every bad vibe I could ever feel just hit me then and I just…well I want to say that I began to fear for the worst, but I couldn't even think. All my thoughts were just gone."  
"So that's why you didn't defend me when Jay grounded me" Sam said, slowly nodding her head.  
He turned his head to face her. The look in his eyes alone signaled how sorrowful he felt.  
"You and me, we're a team, you know that. 99% of the time I would always defend you even if you messed up. That's how we both are towards each other, more so you protecting me though" he said with a chuckle, "but, seeing you that way was different. This wasn't a prank gone wrong, or you were out late in a not great area, you literally could have died. I faced that once, I didn't think I'd have to see it again like that" he said as he turned his face away from her.  
The white of Sam's skin became paler than usual. With everything that had been going on she had completely forgotten that all her family had already seen her die once. The night they all took Shredder down, she had died when trying to save Mikey, and the only reason she was alive now was because of the mutagen running through her veins.  
"Mikey, I'm…I'm…" she said, her voice getting softer and softer as the emotions began building up inside her.  
Mikey turned his head, and as he looked at her he realized now how he was feeling. In appreciation for her understanding, he did his best to keep her calm.  
He placed his hand on her shoulder. Sam stopped stuttering and looked up at him as he spoke.  
"It's okay," he said with a typical Mikey smile, "you're here now and that's all that matters. And I'm sorry for being cold to you earlier and yelling at you and all and encouraging Jay to ground you. It was just hard for me to see all that again, okay? If we need you on a mission then I'm fine if you join us, we all just really need to work some things out though so that none of us have to experience that again."  
Sam reached her arm across and grabbed onto his hand.  
"Donnie and I are going to continue to test and study my abilities so that we can all understand what I can and can't do, and so we can know what my limits are." She then titled her head so that her check lay against Mikey's hand. "Missions will get better and I'll make safer decisions, I promise."  
Mikey smiled at her. "We all have something to work on, and we're all going to get better. We're a team, and we're a family. We all have something to work on and that's going to make the group stronger. That's my promise."  
The two smiled at the others words, but then Mikey's smile began to fade.  
"So, are we good then?" he asked cautiously.  
Sam tilted her head forward and did her best to display an evil expression (though the turtle in front of her could see right through her act).  
"No, things will never be the same" she said viciously, or at least tried to.  
Mikey just waved this expression away. "Psh, girl you love me."  
Sam rolled her eyes. "*sigh* well then I guess that means we're okay."  
By the time the smile appeared on her face, Michelangelo was already pulling her into his side and wrapping an arm around her shoulder.  
"Thank god, I thought you were going to hate me forever for taking your brothers side"  
"Oh there is still a price to pay" she said with a wicked smile.

That fast, Sam had grabbed a Nerf gun that was lying on the floor next to the bed and was shooting at her target. Of course, Mikey knew where his stash was under his bed and was quickly able to retaliate.  
This went on for about 45 minutes, and by 1a.m. the two had crashed on the bed and were sound asleep, as was everyone else throughout the lair.  
Each of them was grateful that after everything they had been through, the night was able to end on a good note.

**Author's Note: Just like last time, if there's spelling or who knows what other errors, I highly apologize. I haven't even gone back and analyzed the last chapter either. When I get a chance I will correct any major mistakes between the two. I've been able to plan some short breaks into my work and homework times where I can work on this story. **

**Thank you to those who have stuck with me. I appreciate you guys sticking with me and my story, and I also appreciate the comments you guys have left me **** The feedback always helps me figure out what you guys do and don't like.  
AND THANK YOU to the people who have told me which turtle you think Sam might end up with/who may like Sam (if she even ends up with one hehe ;) ) because that means I'm completing one of my goals for this story, so thank you so very much for your feedback. **

**Hope to see you all, and hopefully soon, in the next chapter :D **


	15. Chapter 42

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #42

***The next day, Monday June 8****th****, 2015 around 12p.m. in the lair***

****After everything the group had endured the day before, the turtles and their human allies had actually gone to bed at a relatively normal time, which was odd compared to what they were used to.

Everyone except for Sam and Mikey had woken up somewhere around 8 to 9a.m. and after a lengthy debate on how the situation should be handled, it was decided that it was too risky for the turtles to go above ground and try to retrieve the three pieces of the portal from Shredder until later that night when the sun began to set once again. They knew ignoring Shredder during the day was risky and would provide him with plenty of time to further whatever it was that he was scheming, but it would be just as risky if they couldn't hide themselves in the daylight, and it was especially worse with the cops still looking for them. Knowing this, each of them decided to lay low and find ways to calm their minds until they could finally continue the battle later that night.

Once Jay had finally called his fiancé and updated her about where he had been and what had happened to Sam and the turtles, she insisted that he take a break from the wedding planning and that certain things she would handle with her female family and friends in order for him to be able to better watch out for Sam, and also because she knew her soon to be husband was probably very on edge based on everything she had just heard.  
After being given this time to relax, Jay turned to Raph as a workout buddy. He still made sure to get plenty of exercise and kept his body trained and in shape in case he would need to fight for whatever reason, but he had not had a workout anywhere near as strenuous as when he worked for the Foot. Raph, being the workout-aholic he was, was thrilled to work with Jay and test his limits as the two trained and 'hit the gym' together. Throughout their time together, Splinter had joined the two and pushed them further to test their skills as they now trained under their Sensei's watch.

Leo had scanned for a variety of calming activities for himself to complete. He had cleaned his room (which took about 10 minutes since his room was always clean), he then meditated for a while, he went to the kitchen and cleaned up the dishes from breakfast, he trained with Raph and Jay for some time, and ended by just reading whatever he could find that was new from Donnie's room (after being granted permission to do so of course). So he now just sat on his bed, reading a new Stephen King book in the silence of his room.

Donnie had also searched for activities to keep his mind calm, but of course his activities focused on keeping his mind at work as well. He began by looking through police records to see if he could find out anything about April and Casey after they had been arrested, but not much had been reported about the two, which signaled to him that they had not revealed much, or any, information at all. After finally admitting defeat to learning about what happened to his human friends, he decided that he needed people to distract him or else all he would do is sit in front of his computer until the slightest update came through. Luckily, after asking Sam and Mikey, he joined the duo in playing some videogames. After a while, he felt the need to move around and decided he would spend some time working on the truck. He had not made any repairs to the vehicle after the group had tried to prevent Shredder from breaking out of prison, so he thought now would be a good time to do so.

Mikey and Sam had woken up around 9:45, and seeing how everything else was doing their own thing, they assumed that nothing would be done about retrieving the portal pieces until later that night. Knowing this, they hung out in the kitchen for a while where they made a variety of different flavored pancakes while also looking up trailers for upcoming movies, shows, and video games they had been anticipating to be released. After this, Donnie had asked them if they were interested in playing videogames with him (did he think they would say no?). Once Donnie left the group, the duo decided they wanted to move on to a new activity as well. With all the craziness that had been going on the past couple of days, Sam had forgotten all about a dance competition she had coming up in a few more months, so Mikey laid down some beats on the drum set in his room while Sam tried putting together a routine.

While everyone in the group was relaxing and trying to stay calm, each of them was still extremely worried about April and Casey. They hated that there was no way for them to get in contact with their friends and they hated that all they could do was keep their shell cells and turtles com's close by and pray for the best. However, their worries grew stronger when out of nowhere the ground began to shake around 12 that afternoon.

Leo looked up as he heard the beams throughout the lair begin to vibrate. He stepped out of his room and saw dust begin to fall from the ceiling above. Donnie hadn't heard much because he was polishing part of the truck, but once he saw the dust fall he looked up with a concerned expression as he gazed upon the shaking beams up above. Instantly he turned off the device and dashed towards his lab. Mikey displayed the same expression as he stopped his drumming and stood up from his drum set. He was curious, but also anxious about what was making these pieces of the ceiling come falling down. He turned towards Sam and without having to speak, the two knew from the other's face alone that they needed to go find Donnie. Raph and Jay both froze as they noticed the punching bag begin to shake and swing even though they were standing nowhere near it. As soon as they saw the dust fall from the ceiling, they both rushed off to go find Donnie, hoping he could explain what was going on.

At this point, everyone had now gathered together by the collage of monitors right outside of Donnie's lab.  
"What's happening out there Donnie?" Leo asked.  
Donnie turned and faced the screens in awe as he stared at the huge gray cloud that was forming, swirling together as it grew larger and larger.  
"Oh my gosh," he replied, taking a step closer to the monitor, "Shredder did it. The portal's opening."  
Everyone else stepped forward as their faces got closer to the screen as well as they watched the cloud get darker and larger.  
"Wait, what's it doi-" Mikey began to ask before he jumped as the cloud sucked itself in and they exploded outwards. Lightning struck all throughout the inside of the cloud as gusts of wind then pushed the cloud outwards and away from a huge blue streak that had formed in the center of the gray space.  
"Sam" Donnie called out.  
"On it" she replied as she began typing away on one keyboard, while Donnie began typing on another.  
The two began logging into systems that would lead them to the metamaterial cameras (some of the many, many types of cameras and devices that the two had placed on the roof of Sam's apartment building, allowing them to observe events such as this) that allowed them to scan the pieces that were now exiting the portal's entrance and flying throughout the sky.  
At the same time, Donnie had just gotten a call from April.  
"Got it" Jay said, quickly reaching into Donnie's glowing side pocket and answering the phone as he walked away from the screens and into the living room in order to hear the voice on the other side. He knew there wasn't much he could do in this situation, so he thought this was a small way that he could contribute. Right now the brother's needed to focus on whatever it was that was entering their planet's atmosphere.  
All four brother's listened as Jay talked to April over the phone in the living room. Everyone was able to make out that April and Casey were no longer being held up thanks to Vern finding a flash drive with footage from the TCRI building of Bebop, Rocksteady, and Shredder who had all been talking about the portal and the purple ooze. However, they all tried their best to continue to listen as Jay then walked into the kitchen and began a new phone conversation with a woman who went by the name of Jade.

"Incredible" Donnie stated, "this alien war ship is coming through the portal piece by piece."  
While Sam continued to scan the pieces that were appearing, Donnie then began hacking into the main data core of the ship itself.  
Raph and Mikey continued to watch in awe at the huge pieces that flew across the sky as their eyes fluttered from one monitor to the next. Leo had decided to give his brother and sister some space, so he slowly paced back and forth from a bit further back with his arms crossed across his chest.  
"The ships designate is the Technodrome, its commanding officer goes by the name of Krang."  
Mikey waved his fist at the screen in front of him.  
"I don't know that guy, but I hate that guy" he said in a bitter tone. He then realized he was crowding Sam, so he turned and walked back next to Leo.  
Sam turned around to face the group, believing there was no more information she could gather about the machine.  
"What happens if this ship completes construction?" Sam asked.  
"That's the thing," Donnie added severely, "this thing wouldn't just be a ship, it would be a war machine that would end all life here. It would be the end of the world. But, there is something we can do."  
All eyes were now on Donatello.  
"The atmosphere around the Technodrome would be toxic to anyone with a standard cardiovascular system."  
"What are you saying?" Leo questioned.  
"What I'm saying is that the five of us, the only ones with mutagen running through our veins and changing our bodies may be the only ones who can get close enough to this machine to shut it down."  
"How?" Mikey cut in with an anxious tone, and an equally anxious expression, "we're being hunted. They think we're monsters."  
"Yeah," Raph added grimly, "we're gonna need the cops at our backs, not trying to lock us up."  
"Unless…" Donnie trailed off as he walked past his brothers and headed towards his room on the opposite side of the lair.  
Without a word, the rest of his brothers began to follow. Sam however had other thoughts on her mind. She followed the guys but quickly turned towards her brother who was still on the phone in the kitchen and whispered "Jay, our assistance could be used here."  
"I've been on it" he whispered back.  
Sam smiled and replied with a quick nod as she then pulled her phone out and began making some calls as well.  
Meanwhile, the turtles were now standing outside of Donnie's room as he held the purple glass canister of ooze.

"One sip. We'll stay the same on the inside, but look human on the outside."  
Donnie then looked forward at Leo as he then handed him the canister.  
All four of them stared at the glass canister as multiple thoughts were running through each of their heads. Each of them were worried about how things could go wrong, how turning human would drastically change each of their lives, and whether these changes would lead to good or to bad consequences.  
Splinter then appeared behind them. He had hung back and remained silent since usually his sons could handle these situations on their own, but he could tell by their expressions that they were stuck on what their final decision should be.  
He smiled at his children. "Your boyhood is drawing to an end as you now grow into young men. The choice, is yours."  
Leo looked over the canister and then back up at his brothers. He knew that ignoring their wishes in order to protect them only did more bad then good, so he decided to let them play a role in their own fate.  
At this point, Sam had entered the room and was now standing behind Splinter as she watched the turtle's converse.  
Leo looked down at the canister before handing it over to Raph.  
"The choice is yours," he said as he looked around at his brothers, "it's your call."  
Raph looked over at Mikey and Donnie whose stares signaled that they were giving him the final call. They knew Raph would be the most sensitive to this decision, not only from being a middle brother who saw things from the oldest and youngest perspectives, but also because he had been the most hurt from the argument he had had with Leo from the other night.

Raph looked at Leo and realized that all his older brother wanted was to protect them, so he needed to make a choice that kept them safe afterwards.  
He looked at Donnie and believed that the only way he could truly share his intellect with the world would be by introducing himself and displaying what he had learned as himself and not as an average human being.  
He looked at Mikey and believed that the only way his youngest brother would be able to comfortably socialize with others was if he was truly himself the entire time and didn't have to worry of the consequences of his true self being revealed.  
He then looked over at Sam and realized that the number of humans they had personal contact and trust with had continued growing ever since they met her and April within the past year and that they never needed the entire world, but rather these close personal ties to support them all along.  
After thinking over all of this, Raph then turned and launched the canister towards the wall in the living room.  
Donnie's mouth dropped slightly due to shock from his brother's choice.  
Leo's eyes went wide for the exact same reason.  
Mikey was frozen solid, not exactly sure what to think.  
Raph sensed all of this and explained his reasoning.  
"The only way to truly gain the cops trust is to get them to trust us for who we really are, and not by having them trust whoever we'd be pretending to be with that ooze. Let's prove to them that we're not monsters and that the real us is someone they want to work with" he said with confidence.  
Leonardo just stood there and smiled, proud of the maturity in his brothers decision.  
Donnie liked the idea of having future scientists want to work with him because of who he was and not just because he was like everyone else, and he nodded his head as he fist bumped his second oldest brother.  
Mikey let out a small laugh, enjoying the thought of proving themselves and no longer being viewed as monsters.  
"You guys better get in here if you wanna know how I can help with that" Jay called from the kitchen.  
The four turtles followed behind their father as they all made their way into the other room in order to hear what their human friend had to say.

Sam on the other hand was frozen solid as she continued to stare in shock at the purple streak running down the far wall. Of course she agreed with everything that Raph had said and she wanted people to love and respect the turtles the same way she had, but at the same time she knew that not everyone in the world would act this way. Heck, there were people who didn't know what the word 'respect' even meant when interacting with other citizens in New York, so of course not everyone would be kind towards the turtles, and this meant that without that mutagen there was still so much that she would never get to do with her green companions.

She would never be able to introduce them to more basic things such as gyms with endless amounts of equipment, or hiking trails that would be a breeze to them yet still so beautiful from the surrounding natural setting. She would never be able to take them to amusement parks or water parks during the summer and hold his hand if the rides made her dizzy. She would never be able to walk with them along the boardwalks or beaches and kick his ass at skeeball or trick him and then dunk him underwater. There would be no competitions to see who in the group could get the highest scores or who would win beach volleyball or beach soccer, or beach anything for that matter. All winter activities were now thrown out the door. She would never be able to participate in snow ball fights, building snowmen, racing on sleds, or even ice skating where she could hold onto him if she fell. She would never be able to go to actual soccer games and cheer along with them and she would never get to go dancing with him outside the lair. She would never get to travel with them and teach them about South Korea while they then taught her about Japan. She would never get to tease and scare the hell out of them at haunted houses while then holding onto him when she actually felt scared herself.

'Wait' she thought as she paused for a moment, 'he?'  
"Sam?" Donnie called as he walked back up to where Sam was standing. "You okay?"  
'He?!' Sam thought to herself as a blush came across her cheeks. What was she thinking? She had been thinking about things she wanted to do with all he brothers, so how had she kept thinking about stuff with just him? What the hell had just happened?!  
She then felt a hand on her forehead and practically jumped away from the sudden touch.  
Donnie slowly retracted his hand, but his face displayed how concerned he was.  
"Tell me what's on your mind right now" he demanded, assuming this was based on the Krang and the portal, not realizing it was something completely different.  
Sam realized how fast she was breathing and realized she needed to calm down. How could she have thought about her friend, about her brother like that?! And she knew for a fact that that particular brother definitely did not feel that same way about her. Had she just thought of all that in the moment? She had never felt those ways before, at least she couldn't recall any previous times where she had.  
She then looked up at Donnie and lied as best as she possibly could, knowing that if she didn't say something soon then he was going to start freaking out more than she was now.  
Calmly and in a concerned voice she stated "I just hope the cops will end up seeing you guys the same way I do."  
Donnie cooled down himself and smiled as he walked closer to her as he placed both his hands on her shoulders.  
"It's going to be okay. We're a team, somehow we're going to figure this out. Now come on," he said as he gently pat his friends shoulders and then started heading in the other direction towards the kitchen, "it sounds like your brother knows a way he can help us" he said with a smile.  
Sam smiled back at the purple bearing turtle as the two headed towards the kitchen.

**Ughhhhhh once again another shorter chapter -_- I'm so sorry. I know my promises probably mean nothing at this point. Of course today was FINALLY the last day of my summer classes…..and I got sick 2 days ago -_- like total sore throat, can barely talk, and any talking I do leads to major headaches. Because of that, instead of adding to this chapter, I'm going to upload it as it is. I'd rather give you guys something after a decent wait rather than continue to make you wait longer. Hopefully I'll be uploading the next chapter relatively soon. **

**Also, DID YOU ALL HEAR THAT WE'RE GETTING A NEW MOVIE?! I personally will be a bit upset if it's a reboot rather than a sequel, and I will be very upset if it's an all new turtle cast. Like I thought the past four actors nailed their roles and did a fantastic job portraying who the turtles were in both films regardless of the script (even though overall I thought both films were well done in all categories, although there is much I would have changed in the first film). However, I'm excited regardless of what's to come because I am always thrilled to get a new series with my boys in it.**

**And has there been a release date for the new cartoon series? Because I want to be prepared for that as well and yet I feel like I never hear about a release date. As you can see I'm extremely impatient hehe. **

**Final comment/question: which of the turtles do you think Sam was thinking about at the end of the chapter? ;) hehehe**


	16. Chapter 43

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #43

***That same day Monday June 8****th****, 2015. About 12:10p.m. in the kitchen of the lair ***

****As Sam entered the kitchen she noticed who was standing where at the small round and the small oval tables that were placed next to each other in the kitchen. Splinter was now meditating on the raised pipe in the center of the lair, allowing his sons to discuss their plans alone. Jay was standing on the left side of the small round table, and Leo was standing right across from him, with Raph standing in between the two at the very end of the table. Mikey was standing to the left of Leo, so he was standing along the long oval table, and as Donnie entered the room, he stood right across from Mikey. Sam didn't exactly want to stand near any of the brothers after the random and strange thoughts she had just had about one of them moments ago. Even though she had only had thoughts about one of the brothers, she still felt a bit awkward standing right next to any of them at the moment, so she stood next to Jay, literally right next to him. They were standing so close that he couldn't even move his right arm even if he wanted to because she was practically glued to his right side, leaving a huge gap between Jay and Donnie even though they were technically standing next to each other.

"Sam?" Jay questioned.  
"Hm?" she hummed as she turned her head and looked up at him, moving only her head and refraining from moving her entire body.  
"Can you back off some please?" he asked, a mix of curious and a mix of worried as to what the hell her problem was.  
"No" she said bluntly as she continued to just stare at him.  
"Why are you acting weird?" Leo asked, displaying the same expression as Jay as similar thoughts entered his mind.  
"Why are you acting so normal?" Sam asked matter of factly.  
"HA!" Mikey laughed, ignoring Sam's odd actions and just assuming she was being the goof that she was.  
This got her to smile some.  
'Bless your dorkiness of never knowing what the heck is going Michelangelo' she thought to herself.  
"Anyway" Jay began as he slightly nudged his sister off of him, "so I don't know how much Sam has told you, but you guys have more people on your side than you realize."  
"She's made that part clear-" Leo began.  
"Yeah but Leo never let Sam actually explain what all the means" Raph cut in.  
"Yeahhhh he always told her to drop the subject" Mikey added.  
"Thanks guys. Really helpful" Leo mumbled as he rolled his eyes. Man his brothers never let ANYTHING go, now did they?  
"Are these people going to help us now?" Donnie asked.  
Jay nodded with a confident smile.  
"When April called earlier she didn't just mention what happened to her and Casey after they were arrested, she also mentioned that she had been in contact with Jade, aka Chief Vincent's right hand man, well woman in this case."  
Raph gave Jay a strange look, and Jay easily knew what this meant.  
"I know what you're thinking," he reassured the large stiff looking turtle, "you think we can't trust the chief's wingman after what happened the other night. But what you don't realize is that she's been on our side the entire time."  
Slight shock was expressed by all four turtles at the sound of this.  
"But, she was holding her gun to us just like all the other officers, why would she do that if she's with us?" Mikey murmured.  
Now Sam spoke up. "Remember that girl that talked to you guys through the walkies during the fall of the Foot?"  
The turtles paused and then nodded as they remembered the young voice that directed them throughout the night as they unlocked cells in order to free innocent people that night.  
"That voice, that was Jade's sister" Sam said with a smile, knowing that the wheels would be turning in each of the heads of her friends. Even Mikey displayed a jaw dropped-open mouthed expression which showed even he understood what was going on for once.  
"Jade's a double agent" Donnie stated, "she works for you guys but also gets info from the general police."  
"Bingo" Jay said with a nod. "Once she found out that her sister was captured for her bright mind she instantly started doing some undercover work behind Vincent's back. Shredder would allow people to still see their families on certain occasions, so Lindsay and Jade would act like they were just going out for coffee and really they were working together to help get her and everyone else out of being forced Foot. Once the NYFS formed, she began updating them with whatever information she could get their hands on."  
"But…that still doesn't explain why she would hold her gun towards us if she's on our side" Mikey stated, confused by the woman's actions.  
"Remember I told you about the code that ex Foot use to help each other out of sticky situations? She looked right at me and recognized me, and her shouting to us to freeze as she looked me right in the eye was a signal that no one in that room knew the code, and stating it would just give away my identity and put us in further danger."  
Mikey then resumed his shocked expression as he now realized how the woman was actually helping them after all.  
"Can she help us now?" Raph asked.  
"She already has been" Jay responded. He then turned to Sam and poked her hard on the forehead. "And youuuuuuu owe her a huge thank you for keeping your cover safe for the time being."  
Sam winced at the contact and rubbed her head as her brother continued to talk.  
"Vincent wanted crime scene units doing everything they could to figure out who you were and she hid the footage before anyone could reach it. You owe her big time for something like that. She could lose her job you idiot."  
"I know, I know, continue on with what's happening and ridicule me later" Sam groaned, still rubbing her forehead.  
Jay continued to update the group on what was happening.  
"So literally minutes after what happened that night, Jade called me and updated me on what happened…well she left a voicemail because I was tasting ridiculous amounts of food and wine for my wedding, but in the voicemail she made it clear that for you guys to show your faces like that, something major was either going to happen, or had already started. Instantly she started calling people in the NYFS that could get some work done that would help you out in the long run, and the way things are going she was obviously spot on in thinking that since you need to quickly gain the cops trust right now. When April called me earlier she put herself and Jade on speaker. They both confirmed that everyone we need to clear your names is available right now and if you need the cops then we can discuss a meeting place and everything."  
The four turtles were speechless. This woman they had never met, these people they had never met, were all ready and waiting to be called at any second to help them?  
"Wait, why would these people just be standing around for us? They don't even know us!" Raph proclaimed.  
"In all due respect, I feel the same way" Donnie muttered, "how did we go from just being called monsters to having people waiting to help us the second we ask?"  
Jay shook his head.  
"You've always had people waiting to help you the second you needed it, Sam I thought you told them this" Jay said as he then turned toward his sister.  
The girl's eyes were wide and her voice slightly rose from frustration.  
"I did! And every time I did Le-"  
"Don't remind me" Leo said as he slowly dragged his hand down his face. "Obviously I won't shut down whatever you have to say this time, and it's clear we have more allies than we could have ever imagined."  
To this his brothers nodded in agreement.  
"So what happens?" Donnie asked. "You give Jade the call and we just meet the cops?"  
"Basically, yes. I call Jade and Casey, they talk to Vincent and set up the meeting place, we instantly get everyone else to meet up at that spot. How much time do we have before that machine is built?" Jay asked as he turned towards Donatello.  
Donnie removed a device from his shoulder and fidgeted with the buttons so that the device was now linked to his monitor. He scanned over the information from the cameras used earlier.  
"It looks like it's taking a while for all the pieces to come through, but we don't have time to play around either. That meeting needs to happen in literal minutes for us to actually have time to work together with the cops and get to a spot where we can reach the portal in time to stop the Technodrome from finishing construction."  
"Calls are being made now, gather whatever gear you think you'll need" Jay said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and instantly began dialing numbers.

The three oldest turtles began walking towards the weapons storage near the dojo behind them, Mikey however continued to stand in his spot.  
Now that Sam wasn't super nervous about talking to the brothers anymore, and also realizing that the only way to forget about those awkward thoughts would be to just act natural and talk to the guys like she always did, she walked over to the uncharacteristically timid turtle and tilted her body so that her face was now in front of his.  
"Hey, what's on your mind?" she asked genuinely.  
His breaths were slow and silent.  
"What if…what if something goes wrong and they still think we're monsters?"  
Sam stood up straight. "Mikey"  
"I believe you guys that Jade and others are on our side, but, obviously not everyone is if those cops took one look at us and reacted that way. What if having a few people support us isn't enough?" he said, his hands slightly shaking from the worry of being looked at with fear and disgust once again.  
His hands only calmed once Sam put her hands on his shoulders.  
"Hey, I'll be by your side the entire time. Jay will be by your side, April, and Casey, and Jade, and others will be to. You don't need everyone on your side, just the ones that have been with you since the beginning. You have human family that will risk their lives for you, so screw everyone else. We ride or die till the end my brotha" she said with a smirk.  
Mikey nodded his head and his posture became much more relaxed.  
"Thank god I have you to remind me of the important things in life. True family, music, comic books, video games, and pizza."  
"Ahhh that's my boy" she said putting her fist forward for a fist bump. "Now let's go, we'll be leaving literally now since Jay is waving to us so hurry up and sprint" she said as the two packed up in seconds and rushed out of the lair with the others.

***12:25p.m. At a back alley near the police station***

****Jay went up first and exited through the manhole cover above so that he could quickly talk to the others up above. The group felt nervous being so close to the police station once again, but it was one of Vincent's requests in order to officially meet the turtles. She also requested they bring the "blue eyed girl" with them. Jade had warned them to be prepared for any surprise 'needs' or 'requests' that the chief would surprise them with, so this also made the boys a tad bit nervous. Donnie's turtle com rang and they heard Jay and April confirm that it was time for the group to rise to the surface, so slowly they each climbed the ladder and exited through the manhole covers.

There were two manhole covered exits the groups could exit through, both covers being one in front of the other. Leo exited the front cover while Raph simultaneously exited through the back cover. Right behind Leo was Sam, and right behind her was Mikey. Donnie exited from the back cover right after Raph had made it to the surface. Before they even took in their surroundings, the boys formed a tight square shaped formation around Sam so in case anything were to go wrong she would have four tough barriers for the cops to go through before they could get to her. Leo and Mikey stood at the front of the formation, with Donnie behind Mikey and Raph behind Leo, leaving Sam to be somewhat squished in the middle. Once the boys got in formation, they finally took a look around.  
They noticed that both ends of the alley way were blocked off by police vans and trucks, and in front of and on all those vehicles were lines of armed soldiers with riot gear. Donnie happened to turn around and look up and he gulped when he saw even more armed soldiers in the walkways up above that lead to the apartments. After seeing this number of cops, the boys were grateful that Sam had worn a jacket with a hood covering her head and that she happened to have her mask on her that covered her mouth and nose, only revealing her now brown colored eyes.  
In front of the group was Chief Vincent who stood behind the row of soldiers. Next to her on both sides were April, Casey, Vern, Jade, and Jay, along with a mix of some familiar and brand new faces.

The group began to slowly walk forward, Mikey and Leo keeping their hands up just too be safe and signal that they would not attack or cause any harm.  
Each of the four turtles was cautious, nervous, scared of the slightest thing going wrong and a negative reaction leading to chaos.  
They heard the sounds of guns shifting, but they were even more shocked (and so was Chief Vincent who displayed an extremely shocked expression) when Jade called out for the officers to hold their fire.

Vincent took a step forward so that she was now in front of the line of officers. She spoke and looked as if she were in a dream and couldn't fathom what was actually happening right in front of her.  
"What are you?" she asked.  
"They're frogs" Sam mumbled under her breath as she rolled her eyes. Was it really that difficult to tell what they were? Luckily no one heard her but the group surrounding her, but that didn't stop Raph and Donnie from nudging her anyway  
Mikey looked at the woman solemnly.  
"We're not really into labels" he said softly, looking back and forth between the pavement and the woman in front of him due to honestly being terrified of her.  
"Some call us freaks, monsters" Leo stated in a more serious tone.  
"Let's just say we're four brothers from New York who hate bullies, and love this city" Raph admitted proudly.  
"And right now we're this city's best hope" Donnie added, trying to act confident though coming off a bit timid as well.

Chief Vincent scoffed and displayed a fake smile.  
"And why should I believe you?" she asked.  
Leo pointed to one of the men standing next to her.  
"Don't take it from us, take it from him" he said as all eyes were now staring at Vern.  
"Go on Vern, tell her" April encouraged.  
At first Vern just stood there frozen solid, but the sound of Raph loudly cracking his knuckles made him turn his head towards the turtles, and then he not only saw Raph's pissed expression, but also Leo's and Mikey's face which clearly said "are you serious? You better now bail on us now."  
"Ohhhhhh right!" Vern said with an awkward smile as he then faced the chief. "So, the Falcon will always be the falcon, but…look. I got help from my friends. These 4 are the ones who took Shredder down the first time. Me, I was more of just a wingman."

Vincent looked back and forth between Vern and the rest of the people surrounding her.  
"Are you serious? There's no way I'm trusting these guys with just a confession and absolutely no proof."  
"Well then let me introduce to you exhibit B" Jay announced as he handed the chief a stack of papers.  
"And what is this?" she scoffed.  
"Signatures" proclaimed a familiar voice. Emerging from the crowd of officers came Kris, Brenda's younger brother and soon to be brother in law to Jay. Even after Vincent completely disowned Vern's confession, seeing Kris's face made the turtles smile. They hadn't seen him since the day they all worked together to free the citizens from being forced Foot members.  
"I'm sorry, what?" the chief replied.  
"Signatures, 1,000 to be exact. All from people who either were, or were related to ex forced Foot. Each signature is a person putting their life on the line to represent their past life and that they're willing to expose that to save these four. Oh, and that goes along with the 500 letters underneath that, all from the same people. My favorite is from a young mother who wants to thank 'the biggest one in red who doesn't want to be called Mr.' for saving her and her daughter the night everything happened."  
After saying this, Kris looked directly at Raph, curious to see if he remembered the woman he was talking about, and Raph's beaming smile answered that question right away.

Chief Vincent was impressed, but she still wanted more evidence.  
She was about to make this known, but Casey interrupted her.  
"And knowing you, you need more than that. So now I introduce you to exhibit C."  
He then waved forward a man who looked to be just a tad younger than Casey who had darker black hair, and a girl who seemed to be about the same age as Sam.  
"Who're they?" Leo whispered softly, leaning back just a hair so that he could ask Sam his question.  
"Jaxon and Sofia Jones, although we call her Shadow. They're Casey's cousins."  
"What are they doing here?" Raph grunted lowly.  
"They're some of our top record keepers. Right now they're showing files to Chief Vincent of every time you've saved the city to date. Well, at least every time THEY know of that is."  
This made all four turtles turn and turn around to face her.  
"You keep records of that?" Leo asked aloud.  
Sam shrugged. "Well yeah, we have records of pretty much everything. Including the video footage that Lindsay is showing the chief now of you guys freeing people the night the Foot fell."  
All four turtles turned around to see that jade had now introduced exhibit D, her younger sister Lindsay.  
Seconds later all these new and familiar faces walked over to greet the turtles, leaving the chief to discuss with Casey and April.  
"Well, well. Looks like we finally get to meet in person" Lindsay said as she confidently placed her hand out in front of Leo. He was still for a moment since he had never exactly been greeted like this before, but then joined in and shook her hand. She then went down the line and made sure that she greeted each of the brothers and then flicked Sam in the forehead.  
"Man, you've really out done yourself in drilling yourself into some serious shit" she teased.  
"What? Doesn't everybody send officers flying against the wall?" she replied in the same tone.  
"No" Jade said as she stormed over. "You idiot" she whispered, "I could lose my job after everything I've done for you to keep your identity hidden, what the hell were you thinking?" she asked while also flicking Sam in the forehead.  
Sam glared back up at the woman.  
"Your officers called them monsters. You can't do that! Especially to this one!" she said as she pulled Mikey in close to emphasize which turtle she meant.  
"Hi" Mikey said delightfully.  
"He's sensitive" Sam stated bluntly.  
"Heyyyy."  
"Don't hate it, embrace it" Sam encouraged.  
Jade displayed a dreary look.  
"I'm truly sorry about that, to all of you" she said as she looked each of the brother's right in the eye. "I assure you there are hundreds of people who think the complete opposite, including myself, and know what heroes you all truly are.  
"Agreed" Shadow stated. "And finally people besides Sam can finally tell you that" she said as she also went down the line and also shook each of the brothers hands, with her older brother Jaxon right behind her.  
"Since Sam has probably never ever told you a single thing about us, I'm Shadow. You'll never hear or see me coming, so watch out cause you never know when I'm around" she teased, receiving a genuine smile from each of the brothers.  
"Nice to finally meet you guys, my name is Jaxon. One of the best archers you'll ever meet. Thank you for saving us, we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."  
The turtles were shocked to be greeted this way. Never in their wildest dreams would they have thought they would be talked to this way after the way the cops had reacted to them just days before.  
Finally, Kris got his chance to reunite with the guys.  
"Hey, how's it going?" Mikey said as he put his hand out for a handshake.  
Kris, being just as much of a dork as Michelangelo was, shook his head.  
"No way dude, we've already met. Daps and hugs only" he said with a smile as he completed these gesture with each of the guys. "It's good to finally see you guys again, since that one there hogs you all to herself" he said as he playfully glared at Sam, who responded to him the same way.

"Alright get back all of you" Chief Vincent declared. Each person the turtles had just talked too walked back and stood behind the line of officers once more, not wanting to get on the chief's bad side.  
"*Sigh* well you definitely brought a lot of good evidence with you, but there's only one thing I need in order for us to partner up. I want the girl" she said as she glared at Sam who was still covered from her hood and mask.  
"Nope!"  
"Nu-uh!"  
"Not a chance!"  
"Absolutely not!"  
Each of the four turtles took a step inwards so that they were standing even closer to Sam as they each made it clear they weren't giving her up.  
"Guys. Guys I can't breathe like this" Sam groaned.  
"Shut up you're fine" Raph grunted, ready to fight anyone that would try to lay a hand on the girl.  
The chief was shocked to see how serious all four of the turtles became. Seconds ago they were shaking hands and laughing as they talked to the other humans, yet now they were 100% on defensive mode as if they were ready to attack at any moment.

"Donnie" Sam mumbled.  
"Not now" he replied, assuming she was trying to make another comical comment.  
"Donnie" she said again, but this time there was worry in her tone.  
"What?"  
"They're getting bigger" she said as she pointed upward.  
Now all eyes of everyone in that area were staring up at the huge chunks of metal pieces that were beginning to connect together as more and more pieces of the Technodrome were entering the city through the portal.  
"Enough of this!" Jade and Casey ironically said at the same time.  
"Chief," Jade pleaded, "does it really matter who this girl is? She was only protecting her friends whom we wrongly accused!"  
"And it's clear we need them if we want to stop whatever that is, which I'm pretty sure will start attacking us soon" Casey added.  
Chief Vincent looked back at the girl and decided that now was not the time.  
"Fine, leave her be for now."  
Leo nodded. "We've been doing our part to protect this city, from the shadows. And we think we have something to offer."  
Chief Vincent began rounding up her officers and nodded towards the turtles, officiating that she and her officers would provide the turtles with whatever they would need to stop the alien war machine forming up above.

The guys circled together for one final team huddle.  
"We're gonna need strategy" Raph said, putting his hand in the middle of the group as a huge smile was beaming from his face.  
"Instinct" Leo added with the exact same expression.  
"Logic" Mikey added with confidence.  
"And boat loads of heart" Donnie added with the same enthusiasm as his brothers.  
They then all looked over at Sam who had taken a step back.  
"Well?" Leo asked.  
"I don't know if you noticed, but you were given the green light to get support from the cops. I'm still being hunted."  
"Get over here" Donnie said as he and Mikey basically pulled and forced Sam into the huddle.  
"You're still joining us you dweeb" Raph said mockingly.  
"You're just gonna meet through an alternate route" Leo added with a confident grin.  
Sam smiled and added her hand to the group. "Sticking to the shadows till the end" she said and all five of them threw their hands up together.

That fast Sam ducked back and went back underground. As she was climbing down the ladder she could hear the chief talking to Leo about her sudden disappearance, to which she heard Leo state that this wasn't her fight and instead she was going to remain in a safe space they had showed he underground. She then listened as Donnie told Chief Vincent that Jay, April, Casey, and Vern all needed an escort to Pier 90 where the electromagnetic force of the portal was coming from. She then heard Leo inform the chief to send a team to help the turtles enter the Chrysler building without being seen so that they could fight Krang on his own turf.  
She was about to search for the buildings coordinates so that she could get there first and meet up with the guys once they also reached the building, but before she could even activate her device she had already received a message from Donnie with the buildings coordinates.  
Sam shook her head and smiled. That boy always thought of everything before anyone else could even take a second to breathe.  
That fast Sam began sprinting throughout the tunnels of the sewers and within a couple minutes she had reached an alley way near the Chrysler building. She still stood underground and she peeked through the crack of the cover and noticed that cops were already ushering people out, or they were keeping them hidden away safely within areas inside the building. They were doing everything they could so that no one would see the turtles when they entered.

Sam felt her phone go off in the pocket of her backpack and she answered it quickly.  
"Hey Jaxon, I see you got my message."  
"_Yeah, I'm outside of the Hyatt Hotel now. You still want to enter this way?"  
_While she was running, Sam had contacted Jaxon and instructed him to pretend to be an officer who was escorting her inside one of the buildings. That way it didn't look as strange to walk around dressed up the way she was. If people thought she was dressed that way with a cop walking in front of her then she hoped people would assume she was in danger and in need of the escort, at least that was what she was going to go with.  
"I was going to, but the crowds out there are huge. I'll meet you outside the hotel, but we're going to enter a different building. You have your disguise ready?"  
"_Badges, tags, cards. Everything is all here. Man Casey would be so proud of me right now."  
_Sam laughed. "He'll be even prouder if this works and you can get me in. Meet me in front of the hotel in 30 seconds."

Sam lifted the manhole cover so that she was now standing in an alley way between the back of the Hyatt hotel and the Equinox East building. She then quickly made her way around the side of the building and maneuvered through the crowds of people along the street until she had met up with Jaxon in the front of the hotel. She nodded her head to the side and the two crossed the street once it was safe to do so.  
"So what's the plan?" he asked in a whisper.  
"I was going to enter this building and once I got high enough, just fly up to the 61st floor where the eagles are. That's where Donnie told me to meet them. But I can't jump across from building to building over an open street like this, especially when it's ten times more crowded than usual."  
"So where are we going?" he asked as they were now passing the crowd of people standing outside the Chrysler building.  
The two were now walking along East 42nd Street towards another tall office building at the end of the street.  
"At the end of this street is another office building that's shorter than Chrysler. I checked online and couldn't find the name for the building, so it's not an iconic image like its partnering structure. That means security should be a bit easier to slip by. I'm going to get to the top of that building and then travel over to the Chrysler building. It'll be easier to do so without being spotted since there's no road or walkways in between the two buildings and also because I'll be leaping towards the back of the Chrysler building as well. Apparently no one cares about the back of the building since there's no images of that online either."  
Just then the two heard the police cars come speeding down the road and begin to park themselves in front of the building. The guys had finally arrived.  
Jaxon nodded his head.  
"Sounds like a solid plan. Let's do this."

The two entered the office building and just as Sam hoped, getting past security was a breeze. Jaxon lead her to a stairwell within the building and closed the door.  
"I guess this is where we part for now. Please be careful. I know how younger sisters can get" he stated, thinking about how worried he always is of his own younger sister who loves to fight and bring justice when she can.  
"I always try my best" Sam said as she swung her arms back and forth, preparing herself for the upcoming fights.  
"Good luck" Jaxon said as he then exited the stairwell, and as soon as he shut the door, Sam's eyes went black and blue as she held her hands downwards and used her wind powers to launch herself all the way to the top of the staircase.  
Once she reached the top floor she opened the door that lead her to the roof. She wanted to save her powers as best as she could now that she knew she had limits to using them, and quickly used a grappling gun to help her reach the 61st floor of the opposite building.  
She looked around and noticed the guys weren't anywhere to be seen. Assuming that they had beaten her to the spot and had already headed over towards the ship, she shrugged and then took a running start as she then leaped onto one of the larger flying pieces that was heading up towards the Technodrome.

Within seconds she was now standing on the grounds of the Technodrome. She guessed that within minutes the machine would be completely built, so she quickly but cautiously walked further and further towards the center of the ship in hopes of quickly joining the fight and helping her friends, but then she suddenly stopped. She grabbed her tonfa from the side pockets of her bag after sensing something make her stop moving, but she lost her grip and dropped both of them as soon as she had picked them up.  
What was this? It was as if something had taken control of her.  
Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong. She felt the blood running through her veins…no, she felt the mutagen running through her veins, and when she looked down she could literally see the blue streaks because they were enlarged and emphasized on her skin.  
Something was controlling the mutagen and therefore controlling her body.

And that's when she saw them.  
One was huge and seemed like a giant compared to her small frame, the other was probably the same size as the turtles. Both bodies were made of metal, and there were brain looking figures coming out of them.  
The smaller of the two bodies pressed a button on a lever and Sam was slammed down onto her knees.  
"FINALLY! I can test out my device!" the smaller one called out.  
Sam felt dizzy even though her body was still kneeling upright. Then suddenly, everything went dark. As all her senses began to fade, the last thing she held onto was the sound of the larger bodies voice.  
"Yesssss, it's so nice to finally meet you. The perfect mutagen match."

**OKAY so I know people say you should only write about topics you know about, stay away from things you don't know about, etc. So of course I do the opposite because I want to write a story about my favorite characters ever and of course they live in a state in which I have never been to EVER.  
IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE HELL I WAS GETTING SAM TO THE TOP OF THAT BUILDING XD  
Like I hope everything made sense and was realistic because I wanted her entrance to the top of the Chrysler building to make sense and not have her just magically appear when hundreds of people easily could have seen her.  
So I hope you enjoyed the twists I have added to the original movie scenes. If there's anything wrong with my transitions or how Sam got to where she did then please leave me some criticism. **

**But all in all I hope you liked this chapter **** Stay tuned for the next one!**


	17. Chapter 44

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #44

***Monday June 8****th****, 2015. Around 12:35p.m. In the police truck***

****The turtles were trying to calm their minds as they sat in the police van that was rushing towards the Chrysler building.  
Leo and Donnie were both staring at screens inside the van that displayed news reports of the events that were occurring in the sky up above.  
Raph was pacing back and forth as he usually did, the best thing that could be done to calm him down.  
Mikey was just looking out the windows at all the people in the crowds that were standing along the street, wondering how they would all react if something happened where the van stopped and they had to exit right then and there.

Each of their focus on whatever it was they were doing was broken as Chief Vincent stepped over towards them and informed them that she had tactile gear, weapons, and communications standing by in case the boys needed anything.  
The youngest three were rendered speechless. They had just been granted permission by the strict chief to work with the police in order to stop the foreign aliens invading their planet, so they were shocked that she had now switched over to such a cooperative state.  
"All we need is cover to get up there. When we do, we've gotta find that beacon that's drawing all those pieces together" Leo stated as he pointed back towards the small television screen that displayed all the flying pieces that were connecting to the Technodrome.  
Donnie stepped forward and continued to explain.  
"If we can send that beacon back to where it came from and April, Casey, Jay, and Vern can close that portal on our command-"  
"Goodbye Technodrome" Mikey stated with a relaxed smile.  
"Goodbye Krang" Raph added with a confident smirk.  
He then looked towards each of his brothers before asking "team effort?"  
Then each brother looked towards their remaining brothers.  
"Team effort" they all said as they nodded to each other, signaling that they were all on the same page and that they would all have each other's backs.

It was 12:35 p.m. when the police van pulled up in front of the Chrysler building. The turtles were instructed by the chief to wait for her to wave them outside, that way they didn't leave the vehicle too soon and then accidentally expose themselves. The chief and Jade exited the vehicle and seconds later she sent the boys her signal. As they made their way out of the van they heard Jade announce to the officers to stand tightly together as they formed their barricade. Meanwhile, Chief Vincent whispered to each of them to exit and make their way into the building while keeping the upper halves of their bodies ducked down.  
Each of the brothers crouched down and stood between the lines of soldiers that stood around them with their shields held up high, blocking all outside viewers line of sight. They slowly but steadily crept across the street and then finally made it to the black marble doors of the building.

As soon as they had safely entered the building the boys began running down the hall of the triangular lobby looking for the nearest elevator that would lead them to the 61st floor which was high enough for where they needed to be to board Krangs ship.  
While each of them was focused on their mission, they couldn't help but take in all of their surroundings within the short distance they would end up running. They had entered a few different buildings at night in secret with Sam, but they had never been in such a beautiful setting before, and especially not during the daytime. The walls were a golden color, and the glare from the sunlight outside truly made every spot of the walls shine so brightly.  
There were different textures along the walls due to the various steels, granites, and marbles from around the world that were used to make them.  
There were dazzling chandeliers that hung from the ceiling and lit up every corner of the room, adding to the beams of sunlight shinning in from the three entry ways.  
And up above them was a beautiful mural that coated the entire ceiling above them.

The entrance they had entered was straight across from the elevator, so the four only had mere seconds to observe what was around them before they had entered the elevator.  
Leo was standing in the front left spot with Mikey right behind him. Next to Leo was Donnie, who had Raph standing right behind him.  
"Whoaaaaaa, what is this place used for?" Mikey asked as they entered the moving room.  
Donnie, being the know it all nerd that he was, was thrilled to answer this question.  
"This building is the home to offices used for over 80 different businesses from financial firms to dental offices" he said with way more enthusiasm then he meant to.  
Leo laughed. "You're excited to be in this building, aren't you Donnie?"  
"Ohhhh you have no idea" Donnie said with a huge smile. "This is my first time being in this building and yet I could give an entire tour talking about the past and present of it. I could tell you guys the entire story about this place!"  
"Thanks but no thanks" Raph groaned. He was about to fight who knows what type of alien, so he didn't need one of his brother's boring info-lectures to make him fall asleep right before the big fight.  
"Well I'LL listen to you bro!" Mikey said, pointing to himself to emphasize that he would be the nice brother and listen to his nerdy brother ramble on and on.  
Donnie chuckled. "Thanks Mikey, but I'd need Sam with me to help keep you focused."

The group then paused. An awkward silence fell over the elevator car as the group realized that they would have to worry about Sam after the fight.  
"What do you think the chief is gonna do to her?" Raph asked softly.  
"We can't turn her in" Mikey said as he rapidly shook his head, "she finally just got her future back once the Foot fell."  
"We know Mikey, don't worry. We would never turn her over so easily" Leo said solemnly. He then sighed. "We'll discuss all that with her afterwards."  
"We'll find a way to keep her safe" Donnie said, turning around and nodding towards all of his brothers. "We'll figure out something. Who knows, maybe once the chief sees that we can protect everyone then maybe she'll hear us out about what happened with Sam that night and maybe she'll ease up."  
"Doubt it, she seems stricter than Leo and Sensei combined" Raph grumbled, crossing his arms. The chief had been kind to them, but he didn't trust that she was on ALL five of their sides just yet.  
"Raph, you have to stay positive" Leo said as he turned back to face his brother. He gently nudge his arm to get Raph to look up and face him as he spoke. "She eventually gave us a chance even though we look like this" he said as he waved his hand down his body. "If she could eventually trust 'the monsters' then I'm sure she'll come around and trust a fellow human."  
Raph huffed. "I hope your right, or else we're gonna have the cops hating us again."  
"Raph" Donnie began.  
"He's right" Mikey cut in. "If she doesn't come around then its game over. Sam's safety comes first, even if that means her hiding underground with us."  
"And take away the future she deserves?" Leo asked with wide eyes.  
"Unfortunately if the chief wants nothing but to lock Sam up, then her future is gone regardless Leo" Donnie stated in a hushed voice.  
Leo closed his eyes so they were shut tight. "In that case then we'll have to fight against Sam."  
Raph snapped his head to look back towards his brothers, his brow furrowed from confusion and anger. "Wait, what?!"  
"He's right" Mikey mumbled. "If Sam knew that not turning herself in would cause harm to our relationship with the cops then she would do it in a heartbeat. She'd do anything to keep us safe, ANYTHING."  
"She didn't even care when we closed in on her after the chief told us to hand her over" Donnie said softly, clutching onto the straps of his backpack, "she just played it off like it was no big deal."  
"She was probably ready to turn herself in then and there. If we weren't nearby then she would have done it" Leo stated, clenching his fists. He hated to think that Sam would give herself up so easily, but he strongly agreed with Mikey that Sam would do anything if it meant keeping the four of them safe.  
Raph shook his head. "We're her biggest weakness, or at least one of them" he mumbled.  
Donnie's head then shot up. "Jay has connections though, with all types of people. If the chief won't listen to us then she has to listen to hundreds of peoples outcries."  
Leo looked over and noticed they were close to their destination of the 61st floor and decided that they needed to drop this depressing conversation in order to maintain their confident and collected morale.  
"We'll discuss this later when we meet back up with Sam, and when Krangs down. Right now we need to keep our heads in the game."  
Raph began swinging his arms back and forth, needing to move in some way to keep himself calm and focused.  
Mikey began bobbing back and forth on his feet, reminding himself to act as swift as a shadow in the night, or in this case to act as a ghost that couldn't be seen from moving so fast during the day.  
Donnie took a few deep breaths and began shaking his wrists.  
Leo rolled his shoulders some, trying to remain calm and focus on the task at hand.

Finally, the doors opened.  
Donnie was the first one to quickly and swiftly exit the elevator. He was followed by Leo, then Raph, and then Mikey.  
They each stepped off the elevator and now walked along the outside walkway along that floor.  
Donnie hopped up onto one of the Eagles protruding from the corner of the building. He placed his goggles over his eyes in order to scan the progress of the machine that was being built.  
"This thing is about 57% complete. If we don't stop it now then it's going to be ready to go in less than 15 minutes."  
Mikey had been taking in the gorgeous view since he had never seen such a high-up view during the day, but hearing how soon this machine would be built drew back his focus.  
"Guys, what are we waiting for?" he asked.  
"Um, Sam?" Raph stated.  
Mikey's eyes went wide. He felt like such an idiot! How could he not have realized that they couldn't proceed without their sister?!  
"She'll have to head over there by herself, we need to move now!" Donnie announced.  
Raph and Mikey froze, not liking the sound of her traveling all the way over towards the Technodrome by herself.  
"Guys" Leo stated calmly, "we know Sam has limits when using her powers, but she hasn't used them much yet, so if she needs to rely on them then she'll be fine. You guys know how tough she is" he said with confidence.  
The looked at each other and smiled, agreeing with their older brothers words.  
Leo then looked towards Raph.  
"You got this?" he asked, remembering his brother's fear of heights.  
Raph stood up onto the ledge of the walkway and looked down at the sights below him. Although he was up very uncomfortably high up, there was plenty for him to land on with all those giant pieces flying by.  
"Yeah, I got this" he said with a smirk as he then locked his eyes onto a larger flying piece and then leaped off the ledge screaming "Surf's up New York!"  
Soon after, each of his brothers did the same thing as they then landed on their own huge floating machine piece.  
Each of the boys soaked in this rare moment and took in the sights. It was an odd time to feel this way, but man the view from here was incredible!

Donnie was the first one to reach the outer layers of the Technodrome.  
He quickly activated one of the scanners located along his shoulder and began locating whatever would be considered the 'off switch' to the giant machine in front of him.  
Leo and Raph arrived soon after.  
Seconds later Mikey joined up behind them just in time to hear Donnie state that according to his ultrasonic scanners the beacon was located somewhere near the command module that was a few hundred feet ahead.  
"Okay, we gotta stop this thing from completing" Leo stated.  
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Raph asked.  
"Let's start with whatever that thing is" Leo said as he pointed forward.  
Donnie quickly put his goggles on in order to scan what looked like a giant robot rising up from the inside of the machine. His scanners picked up some type of life force within the robot.  
He placed his goggles back on top his head.  
"That must be Krang" he stated.  
"Alright guys, fall in!" Leo announced as he went to take the lead, but paused when he noticed his youngest brother not paying attention.  
"Mikey, you ready?"  
"I still don't see her" Mikey stated, his body still turned around. The entire way over he kept turning back to see if Sam had made it to the walkway from the building, yet she was still nowhere to be seen. He just knew that something was wrong, yet he kept standing there, hoping and waiting that she would just appear and prove that his worries were wrong.  
Leo wanted to wait for Sam just as badly as Mikey did, but sadly they were running out of time to just wait.  
"She can't be much further behind us Mikey, she'll be here soon. Let's get whatever that thing is in there warmed up so that she has less work to do" he said, gently nudging his brother's shoulder as a means to make him relax.  
Mikey took a breath and nodded his head, and with that, all four brothers then leaped down and rolled onto the main frame of the machine. They were cautious as they ran down the strip leading into the center of the upper outside layer of the Technodrome, staying aware of any traps that were sprung on them. However, each of them ran down the strip with ease, and then when they expected to be attacked as they leaped up onto the main platform where the robot was located, there was still nothing. Each of them stood frozen still, waiting for something to attack…yet still nothing.  
Each of them relaxed some as they removed themselves from their fighting stances and walked further ahead towards the robot.  
"It's not that bad, it's just a dumb robot" Raph stated.  
"Yeah, I was expecting way worse" Mikey said as he stood a little too close to the metal being.  
"And what would that look like?" Raph questioned.  
"I dunno" Mikey replied as he knocked on a glass section near the stomach of the robot. He looked inside the open space, but saw only a gap with nothing in it. "I was expecting like a mustache maybe. An evil goatee or something, you know what I'm saying?"

As those final words left his mouth, a disgusting slimy figure slammed itself against the glass on the inside of what had been an open space. Big purple eyes were glaring at a now screaming Michelangelo.  
Mikey jumped back and scooted as far away from the robot as he could as a brain looking figure emerged from the inside, flapping his two tentacle like arms in front of him.  
"Ahhhhh! It's like a chewed up piece of gum, with a face!"  
Leo and Raph already had they weapons in hand the second they heard their brother even begin to scream.  
The brain, assumed to be Krang, stepped forward in his robot body.  
"I'll only tell you once, GET OFF MY SHIP!"

"Donnie," Leo said as he quickly spoke to his brother, "get to the console, let's send this jacked up disco ball back where it came from."  
Donnie nodded and the four were about to leap into action, but then Krang decided that he still had something to say.  
"Not leaving eh? Guess that means I do get to play with the rest of you."  
Although hearing 'the rest of you' sent a huge shiver down each of the turtle's spines, they each remained in displaying their 'ready to fight' stance. They didn't want to show any weakness in case this was a trap.  
"Oh I'm sorry" Krang continued, "was I not clear? I guess I need to show you what I've done with her so that you can see what's going to happen to all of you."  
Krang pressed a button on the belt of the robot and a figure began to teleport in front of him.  
The boys tried their best to remain calm, but their hearts sank at what they saw in front of them.

The figure that appeared in front of them was none other than Sam, but it was obvious that she was no longer herself. Her eyes were in their mutated blue and black colors, but there was now a red dot in the center of her blue pupil, and there was an additional red line that separated the blue color from the black. Sam was glaring at the turtles in front of her as if they had been enemies all along.  
"What did you do?" Mikey asked sternly.  
He made sure to remain in his serious and un-phased stance, but he needed to know what was happening before he just jumped into a fight with his best friend, his sister.

"It's marvelous actually. For years I sent all types of mutagen that my armies back home had concocted to Shredder, knowing that in his quest for power he would test them out on human lifeforms. This made my life easier as I just sat back and watched what combinations of mutagen had what types of effects on the human race. I waited to find people who would match with some of the more complicated doses of mutagen that could only match with select beings, and your friend happened to be the perfect match to one of those specific types of mutagen. This mutagen allows me to control someone through mental abilities, meaning I can control them through their brain. The fact that it connected with and emphasized the powers of wind and strength through other mutagens she had injected into her body is just a bonus for me when I get to control her mind."

The turtles couldn't believe this. Every time they felt that they had a better understanding of what Sam's powers meant and what the mutagen running through her veins could do, they were then thrown a new and even more insane curve ball. They had literally just learned that the mutagen affected her temporal lobe and her emotions, and now, and in the worst way possible, they were informed that this mutagen could also be used by the controller to mess with her brain even more.  
"Hehehe, let's see what fun we can have" Krang said with a wicked smile.  
Sam began storming towards the group, but Michelangelo wasn't going to let this bullshit fly so easily. He quickly reached into his pocket and grabbed a box that was smaller than his hand with a lid that he flipped open. There were two buttons on either side of the box. One was connected to a tiny microphone located inside the box, the other, to a small round metal piece on the inside strap of Sam's backpack which she thankfully was still wearing.  
Mikey pressed both buttons, activating the microphone and the round piece on the strap of the bag.  
"Execute order 66!" he shouted.  
Sam was stopped as the controller heard this and sensed the metal piece pop off from the bag's strap and then connect with the girl's chest. She was commanded to freeze because the controller was confused as to what just happened.  
"Did you just order her to kill all the Jedi?!" Donnie shouted.  
"Wait, what?!" Raph bellowed.  
"Mikey!" Leo shouted.  
"She said it wouldn't kill her, it would just stun her!" Mikey shouted.  
"WHAT?!" the brother's shouted, but just then Sam started screaming in pain

Sam had always discussed secret techniques with each of the brothers so that they could help keep her safe if she could not do so herself, and vice versa. In this case, Sam had developed a small controller (the box) that had a chip with a recording of Mikey saying the phrase he just had. This, along with pressing the second button, would activate a small round piece on the inner strap of Sam's backpack to launch off the bag and press onto her. The material of her bag would prevent any of her electronics from being ruined, but the piece would send an electric shock throughout her body. She made sure (through lots of gruesome testing) that the shock would not be strong enough to kill her, but it would be strong enough to stun her body.  
Sam screamed out in pain, her hands grabbing onto the side of her head as she writhed back and forth. Unfortunately, even though it wouldn't kill her, it was still obviously extremely uncomfortable.  
Sam then stopped and stood frozen still. She opened her eyes and then quickly looked up. Her eyes were now their normal brown color as she was staring wide eyed at the four brothers. She now realized that they had finally arrived and what Krang was using her for, a weapon to fight against her family. She rapidly walked towards the brothers and began talking as fast as she could, knowing her time to help them was limited.  
"There's two beacons one for ship blue for me from guy controlling down below but it's in mine and Krang's-" Sam shouted towards them at the speed of light as she tried to quickly walk towards them, but then was cut off as her body went limp and her vision once again went black. Her body dropped to the ground quickly, her knees hitting first and then  
"Ahhhhh! What's happening down there?! Fix this!" Krang shouted as he stomped his foot on the ground.  
"Alright Donnie, find both beacons. Mikey, keep Sam busy and deactivate her beacon once Donnie gives you a signal. Raph and I will distract Krang and then the three of us will deactivate that beacon."

They sensed movement and the brothers looked forward to see that Sam had lifted her head up and was now showing off her mutagenic eye color with the red dots and lines once again.  
"Don't worry master, they will not pull something like that on her again" she said as she got back to her feet.  
"Just like she said, someone's controlling her from down below" Donnie stated. "I need to figure out where those two beacons are."  
"You can try, but the question is, will you focus more on saving your friend? Or will you focus on saving the world? The choice is yours. In the meantime…" Krang trailed off as Sam began to walk forward.  
She reached into the slots of her bag and pulled out her tonfa, only she did something new with them. What none of the turtles realized was that if Sam held her thumbs down long enough on the very ends of both her tonfa that her fingerprints would be scanned and the tonfa would then disconnect, turning her tonfa into a set of nunchuks.  
"Whoaaa."  
"Oh come on!"  
"What?!"  
"No way!" were the sounds that came from the four brothers.  
Sam displayed a wicked smile. "I see you've never fought her with these before, have you?"  
"Mikey?" Leo asked, hoping that he could explain what was happening.  
"She said her brother fought with sais, but his true calling was towards his nunchuks. She must have messed with them and turned them into her tonfa so that she would fight with her brother's weapons all along. But, how would Krang know that? How would he know something that we didn't?"  
"It's his mutagen and his tech" Donnie cut in, "there's probably so much he can do with her now that she has the mutagen he created running through her veins. There's so much he can do that the human race will probably never understand."  
"Well, then it's time we end this here before he has a chance to do anything else" Leo said. Usually he was able to maintain control, but man he wanted to fight Krang as badly as Raph wanted to fight everyone all the time.  
"This ends now, so don't let him know how you feel, let's throw him off and end this for good" Leo stated. He then looked forward and aimed a cocky grin towards Krang.  
"Hey bubbalicious! Let's see what you've got!"

Each of the turtles followed after one another to run up and attack Krang, but they weren't expecting the enemy to command Sam to stand in front of him and defend him. Sam quickly rushed to stand in front of her commander and threw her arms forward, using her wind powers to knock Leo and Mikey to her right, and then Donnie and Raph to her left.  
The turtles were all blown away and rolled some before standing back up and assessing the situation.  
'Man this is gonna be tougher than I thought' Raph thought to himself.

Raph then glanced over at Leo and instantly they had the same idea.  
Leo ran towards Krangs right side while Raph ran towards his left.  
Mikey remained in his spot and pressed a button on his nunchuks that extended the chain. He then whipped his weapon at an angle so that it would curve and wrap around Sam when she wasn't looking at him and instead was looking at the two brothers coming at Krang from opposite sides. This was much easier to pull off since she wasn't as alert as usual since she wasn't fighting as herself and was instead being controlled by someone else.  
Sam was then swiftly pulled to the side away from the battle against Krang and was now facing off against Mikey alone.

Leo, who had been charging towards Krang, was grabbed by a huge arm where the metal hand had been morphed into a large claw. He was then launched up and over Krangs right shoulder.  
Krang had launched his left clawed arm towards Raph as well, but the muscular turtle had ducked and dodged and evaded the attack. Raph then leapt forward and grabbed onto Krangs waist as he tried to climb upwards, doing the best he could to damage the huge robotic body that was attacking him.  
While these two momentarily had Krang tied up, Donnie was quick on his feet and then slid through Krangs now parted legs and then flipped over the raised metal pieces surrounding the console. He quickly began fidgeting with buttons from his own shoulder cam scanners and from the electronics of the ships tech itself.  
"Alright, about 8 minutes until this thing is complete. It's all you Donnie. No pressure, no pressure, no pressure" he said aloud to himself over and over again.

While Raph and Leo were fighting Krang and attempting to climb onto him in order to inflict damage towards his robotic suit, and while Donnie was trying to figure out where the two beacons were, Mikey was distracting Sam and attempting not to cause too much damage to her while simultaneously fighting her in order to keep her away from Krang and prevent her from hurting anyone else.  
Mikey pulled Sam against him while she was still tied up in the chain.  
He held her close and as tight as he could, hoping this was as far as the fight would need to go, but oh was he so terribly wrong.  
Sam leaned forward and then slammed her head backwards as hard as she could right into Mikey's chin. The move left his chin feeling more sore than usual since Sam had her mutagenic powers on her side.  
The second the chains came loose around her body she began to charge back at Mikey. She ran straight and then faked a dodge to the left only to then swing her right arm back and around so that as her body was moving forward, her arm was a step behind and was aiming right for Mikey's face.  
Mikey, a truly skilled nunchuker, saw this coming from a mile away and used both hands to straighten his nunchuks in front of him, blocking the attack.  
He knew he had to be careful in how he attacked because Sam's controller probably didn't care about what damages were caused to her body and would have her complete moves and absorb attacks that could truly put her life at risk.  
Now that Sam's arm had been held still due to her attack being blocked, her body could no longer travel forward, so instead she planted her left foot and then tried to twist, kick, and swing her right foot forward into Mikey's stomach.  
Again, the turtle was quicker and twisted his body so that her leg just missed kicking him directly in the center of his plastron while he also swung his right elbow up and connected it to her jaw.  
This knocked Sam over onto her side as she stumbled downwards from the impact.  
'Whoever is controlling her is definitely more focused on her powers than on actual fighting ability' Mikey thought to himself.  
Within that split second of lack of concentration, Sam had rolled over after landing rather harshly onto the ground and swung her leg around so that it pulled her body right back up so that she could once again charge towards Michelangelo.  
She began swinging the chucks from opposite sides and aimed for the more tender spots where the turtle's plastron no longer covered his upper body. She swung her left nunchuk inwards, then her right, and she continued to repeat this pattern, but Mikey held onto both nunchuks and straightened them out and continued to slide them right in front of where he knew Sam's weapons were about to land.  
What he wasn't expecting was that as the pattern continued for her to then drop the weapon in her left hand and grab onto his two straightened nunchuks.  
She forcefully pulled forward, the chains digging into her hands as she did so, and she twisted her body so that as Mikey was pulled forward she could flip him forward face first. As she pulled forward on his weapons with her left hand, she then also grabbed on with her right hand once she caught the turtle off guard. She had much more control of the movement once both of her hands were on his nunchuks and she swiftly flipped him forward so that he was now crashing down onto his shell.  
Although it was even more painful to move right after receiving the blow, Mikey twisted his legs and leapt upward in time to dodge Sam spinning around and slamming her foot down onto the ground where Mikey's body had laid.  
'Sam would have landed that shot if the mystery controller was focused on sight and speed and not just on the power of her strength' Mikey thought to himself. 'I have to make sure I keep using his lack of fighting skills to my advantage.'

While this battle had continued on, Donnie was still quickly working through the double shift of trying to locate the two beacons. He didn't care which came first, but he was struggling to find a lead towards either, and it was more difficult trying to focus on both at the same time rather than just focus on one and then the other.  
Finally he found a lead as to where Sam's beacon was. He found a guide within the system that talked about all the features of Krangs latest robotic suit (and he thanked his lucky stars that this being a new suit was why this document appeared so suddenly since Krang must have been referring to this document not long ago in order to activate his new suit). He then started typing faster than ever before as he sent the document to the scanning program on his shoulder and it quickly described each part of the suit. He then noticed a label that said "mind control" and he hacked in immediately. That's how he learned the cruel truth of how to save Sam.  
"I got Sam's beacon! It has nothing to do with who's controlling her down below! The energy source is coming from Krang's right shoulder in his suit! But we have to destroy that AND a chip in Sam's shoulder! Only destroying one without the other will make the chip in her shoulder self-destruct!" Donnie shouted out loud for everyone else to hear.

"HA!" Krang maniacally laughed, "so you found the first one. But are you going to risk hurting your friend just to save her?!" he roared with a vile laugh.  
"Mikey get her to me!" Donnie shouted. As much as he hated it, he knew he could stab Sam in the shoulder just where he'd need to. He could locate the chip in seconds if he could get her to remain still, but based on what this program was informing him, the only way to do that was to get to Krangs shoulder piece first.  
"Get to Krang, then bring her to me!" Donnie shouted.  
"Ughhhh lousy turtle!" Krang screamed, frustrated with how quick the purple one was.

"Guys! I have an idea! Get close to Krang!" Mikey shouted as he began to run away from Sam and closer to where his oldest brothers were standing.  
"Hey Sam! I haven't seen you use your wind powers! Man, you're the worst air bender yet!" Mikey shouted as he slid under Krang as he was whipping his body around, violently swinging his clawed arms in circles.  
Leo had dodged so that he was behind Krangs right side. As the clawed arm began to slow down so that its owner could maintain a position where he could see what was happening around him, Leo grabbed onto the arm and held on as tight as he could, fighting his hardest to keep his feet planted so that as he held onto the robotic arm, its owner could not continue to move forward because of this.  
Raph did the same thing as he dug one sai into Krangs claw and then the other into the ground of the ship, preventing Krang from moving forward.  
These two had done this at the same time that Mikey had called out Sam for not yet using her wind powers.  
Of course, hearing this angered whoever it was that was controlling Sam and instantly the controller fell into Michelangelo's trap.  
Right after he slid under Krangs claws, Mikey then leapt forward and placed a strong hold onto the robots leg.  
Sam was now standing behind Krang, and due to the hunger for power, the controller did not think through what he was doing as he instructed Sam to pull her arms backwards and lead her to use her wind powers to try and pull the turtles backwards and away from Krang and back towards her where she could continue to fight them.  
However, this plan backfired since the turtles were all in positions where as long as they held onto the parts of Krangs robot that they were, they would not move.  
What this actually did was prevent Krang from moving his robot body at all in any way whatsoever.  
This then angered Krang who was frozen in place. This anger lead him to act without thinking as he retracted his robotic arms without realizing that he was not holding Leo and Raph, but that it was actually the other way around.  
The force of the retraction made Leo lose his grip, but Raph, who had dug his sai into the robots hand, was pulled along with both his weapons towards Krang. Since Raph was not being held onto as he was pulled forward, he was still able to move his body freely, and as he was swiftly pulled toward his enemy he moved his arms just as swiftly and before Krang realized what was happening, two large sais were being dug into and dragged throughout Krangs right shoulder.

Immediately the red was removed from Sam's eyes which meant that she was no longer in Krangs control, but her body also began to collapse to the floor once more.  
Leo, who was the closest to her at the time, dashed over and scooped her up before her head slammed against the ground. He then pivoted on his foot and dashed back towards Donnie as it was now Raph and Mikey's turn to fight and distract Krang.

Meanwhile, Donnie had been reading the documents about where the chip was located in Sam's shoulder and was disturbed to learn that this chip was rather large. He thought he would need more of a larger medical pin to stab the chip, but it seemed more so that he would need a thicker blade from a kunai knife to stab the chip all the way through.  
As soon as Leo reached Donnie, the nerdy brother began shouting directions.  
"Go into my bag and get bandages and medical tape. But be careful since I only have ten seconds to make the right cut" he urged.  
Leo moved quickly but carefully as he went to remove the medical supplies from his brother's bag as he was also performing the procedure on Sam.  
Donnie was grateful that his friend was a tomboy and was wearing a looser Adidas shirt where he could easily move the neck of the piece of clothing to reveal her bare shoulder.  
He then steadied the kunai so that it would cut straight through where it needed to. Donnie gulped and then quickly stabbed the girls shoulder, refraining from moving his eyes away from the spot where he made his cut.  
The two turtles heard a crunch after Donatello made the incision.  
Leo winced assuming that this sound was a result of the knife digging into the girls bones. His worry soon went away as he looked at the screen in front of him and noticed that the cut was actually made in the gap between the girl's clavicle and her scapula, meaning that the only crunch sound being made was from the chip being broken.  
Donnie also felt a wave of relief when he saw that the screen displayed that the chip was no longer activated, meaning that besides for the cut in her shoulder, Sam was now safe.  
"Carefully remove the kunai and place the bandage right on top of the cut. Then wrap the medical tape around it in order to apply pressure. Leave her here with me once she all wrapped up" Donnie instructed, all the while typing away faster than ever before.  
Locating the ships main beacon should have been relatively easier now that he could aim every ounce of his attention towards one beacon compared to two.

Leo did his best to follow Donnie's orders. Each of the brothers had experienced medical training from Donnie in case they had to complete actions such as this, but practice was way different than the real thing, and it was worse when it was someone you cared about.  
But he had to keep his mind focused. He gulped each time he saw more blood begin to pour out of her shoulder, but then he pushed through and applied more force to the wound which helped slow down the bleeding each time.  
He finally wrapped up her shoulder and then fixed her shirt. An idea quickly popped into his head and he frantically searched through the bag on Sam's back. He was relieved as he found a role of black pre wrap in the girl's bag. He knew it wasn't a strong material, but after wrapping it multiple times around her shoulder and then tying it up, he knew this would help continue to keep the bandages she wore in place.

Leo now ran back and joined in on the fight. Along with Raph and Mikey, Leo had jumped onto Krangs body. Each of the three clung onto the robotic pieces as it began to spin around and around in circles.  
"Donnie!" Leo called out in exhaustion from the never ending spinning.  
"Just give me ten seconds!" Donnie called back.  
"Guys, I don't think I'm tall enough to ride this ride!" Mikey whined as he felt himself continuing to lose his grip.  
All of a sudden, something shoved Krang forward and all three turtles were released from the spinning chaos.  
Each brother was released in a different direction at alarming speeds.  
Leo was then launched towards the very edge of the flying machine. He heard his brothers calling after him and then began to see a glimpse of the ground so very far away down below. Luckily, he was as quick as ever and grabbed onto a protruding piece of metal from the ship and with the momentum from which he had been launched he was able to swing his body back onto the ship.  
He looked forward to see none other than Sam standing between Krang and Donnie's backs.

"Sam?!" Donnie called out as he continued to finish his hacking. He had been so focused on finding the beacon that he hadn't realized the movement behind him.  
"Don't worry I got you" she said as she stood back to back with the purple bearing turtle. Her eyes were their mutagenic colors, but now they were in her control.  
"But your shoulder-"  
"I haven't seen it and I'm filled with adrenaline so drop it before it actually hurts!"  
"But how did you recover so quickly?!"  
"I'll explain later!"  
Donnie nodded and continued to work.  
Krang snarled as he was more pissed now than ever. Everything he had spent years setting up with Shredder, using him as a pawn to test his materials, was now falling apart because of these five mutants.

The group was shocked and frozen as huge metal posts appeared from the ground of the ship with new weapons on each post. Krang then activated these posts as visible blue waves traveled down the robots arms and connected to the waves coming off of the posts. Soon a giant metal ball attached to Krangs right arm, and a new clawed arm to his left.  
"Guys, he is literally re-arming" Mikey stated.  
Krang then turned around, ignoring the other turtles and was now more focused on stopping the brainiest of the bunch. He launched his clawed arm so that it would go over top the girl and would aim straight for the taller turtles head.  
Leo however had made eye contact with Sam and the two were already on the same page.  
While Leo dashed around the side of Krang and was circling inward, Sam used her wind power to push the robotic arm upwards, and as Leo was now making his way towards the center where Krang was standing, he jumped up and forward and brought his blade down and cut right through the robotic hand before it could come anywhere near his brothers face.

"Where's the beacon Donnie? We're running out of time!" Leo called out as he slid under the other arm that was launched toward him.  
"Haha! You already have! Prepare to watch your city crumble!" Krang cackled.  
Loud beeping sounds were heard even when standing further away from the console. Bright red and blue lights began to flash back where Donnie was standing.  
Sam turned around to see what was happening and her eyes went wide.  
"Whoaaaaaa" she said as she took a step forward to examine what she was seeing, and it sent a shiver down her spine.  
"What's happening Donnie?!" Raph called out as he swung his sai and was able to momentarily bring Krang down onto his knees.  
"I was right" Donnie said aloud as his eyes grew wider and wider, "It's a massive weapons system. He's bringing it online!"  
"Come on buddy you got this" Sam said, trying to sound calm in hopes that it would help keep Donnie calm and collected.  
She wasn't sure if that helped or if it were pure coincidence that seconds later Donnie threw his hands up in excitement and smiled.  
"I found the beacon! It's just right…" he said as he began tilting backwards in order to match the location that the screen from his shoulder cam was leading him to with the actual location in person, "up…there…" he said as he pointed to a flashing red dot all the way at the top of the inner section of the machine.  
"Mikey go!" Leo announced as he grabbed onto a claw that was launched towards him, creating an opening for his brother to move.  
"Oh I'll get that beacon!" Mikey exclaimed as he hopped onto his skateboard and began rocketing around and over the cables of the arm.  
"Arghhhh! PLAYTIME IS OVER!" Krang howled. Once again blue waves appeared, only this time they were right in the chest of the robot. Then, a canon like weapon came flying towards Krang and attached to the robots chest.  
"Mikey, towards me!" Sam shouted as she leaped out of the console and into more open space.  
Mikey wasn't sure what she was going to do, but he zoomed his board over towards her.  
Krang began shooting huge blue laser beams towards Mikey in order to prevent him from reaching the beacon from up above.  
As Mikey aimed his direction closer to where Sam was standing, Sam used her powers to forcefully push away every beam that was aimed at Mikey.  
Because of this, Mikey was able to locate a beam that lead all the way to the top of the machine. He grinding along a pipe that lead him to this beam as he rode his skateboard all the way along the curved beam to the top of the machine.  
"Woohoo! I'm vertical!" he shouted with his arms held over his head.  
Sam kept looking back and forth between Mikey up above and the rest of the brothers down below. She then saw Krang launch another beam that sent the three brothers flying backwards.  
Sam wanted to help them fight, but at this point all she could do was attack from afar. She was beginning to feel slight pains in her shoulder from where she had been deeply cut and she knew that she would only cause more harm than good if she let her emotions take over and force her to push her body to limits that it couldn't handle.  
She wanted to prove that she had learned from her previous mistakes and held her hands on the sides of her head. She was fighting to remain in control of her body, but she felt these urges to just run forward and start swinging punches with all her might, but she knew this was a time where she needed to stand back and help from afar.

Luckily when she looked back up she saw Mikey grab onto the red beacon and begin to travel back down to the ground of the ship as he traveled down the curved beam.  
As he rocketed around on the ground, Mikey tried to make his way towards Donnie, assuming he would know what to do with the beacon.  
"Hey heads up Donni-ah!" Mikey called as he tried to get closer to his brother, only to get slammed to the ground from a launching claw that smacked right into him.  
Although he came crashing to the floor, Mikey made sue to hold onto the beacon, but Krang also made sure to hold onto him as he dragged Mikey back towards him. He wrapped his arms around Michelangelo so that he was now squeezing and crushing him underneath his grasp.

Now Sam was really feeling the urge to just go Hulk and smash. She knew she shouldn't, she knew she couldn't, but she so badly just wanted to run in and attack Krang. Now that she knew what her emotions could lead her to do she tried to fight and stay calm, but her friend was being crushed and she was just standing there doing nothing! Her eyes grew wide and her teeth were clenched just as tightly as her knuckles were. She needed to act now and stop worrying about waiting! She was so focused on waiting for the right moment that she was driving herself insane! NO! Just acting randomly and lashing out is what lead to her almost death back in Brazil, and this was worse. What if her careless actions lead to Mikey's death?! What was she supposed to do?!

"SAM!" Leo shouted.  
She looked up and Leo could immediately tell she was fighting her inner self and that she needed instruction.  
"Do what you did earlier! Keep him still!"  
'That's it!' Sam thought to herself. 'I can act, but the guys will fight. Team effort!'  
Sam nodded her head and ran towards Krang while Leo and Raph climbed up two ladder shaped beams and onto a flying piece of the ship.  
Sam noticed Donnie go behind them and do the same thing and she sensed that Krang was watching all of them as well.  
Sam decided now was the time to try out a new move she had been practicing.  
She clapped both her hands together and focused her wind powers towards the center. She then began trying to pull her arms apart, but with a huge gust focused right in the center.  
Usually she used her powers to push things forward or to pull things back, but the purpose of this move was to move things in a centered position apart, and overall that was what she was doing now.  
This was still a relatively new move, so it definitely wasn't perfected, but she was able to achieve her goal of paralyzing Krang. As she slowly struggled to pull her arms apart, Sam could see Krangs grip on Mikey begin to lightly loosen as his robotic elbows now stood out to the side. The robots feet were now also placed apart from each other, and now that Krang couldn't control the movements of his arms or legs as they were being pulled out to the sides, he was now paralyzed.  
Krang glared down at the girl who was glaring right back at him.  
"Nooooo! You can't do this to me! I OWN YOU!"  
"Heh, you don't own shit" Mike scoffed as he then spit in Krangs face.  
Because of this, Krang never saw Leo and Raph coming as they jumped onto his chest and back, digging their blades into the crevices of where the robots head were located.  
The two turtles pulled back with all their might as they felt the head of the robot coming loose.  
"NOBODY, MESSES" Raph shouted as the robots head popped off and the three turtles fell into the wind gusts of Sam's pull.  
"WITH MIKEY!" Donnie declared as he landed on the top of the robot and slammed his bo staff down onto the top control module and electrocuted the entire robot.  
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Krang shouted as his metal suit came crashing down to the ground.  
Sam officially relinquished herself from using her powers and took multiple deep breaths, calming herself after using such an exhausting technique.

All the turtles got to their feet.  
"Guys, Krangs down but his ship is still building" Leo announced.  
"The beacon" Sam announced as she was now on her knees and holding her sides, man that took way more out of her than she was expecting.  
"Oh, Donnie!" Mikey shouted as he tossed him the beacon.  
"Drone activated!" Donnie announced as he then launched the drone from his bag into the air. It latched onto the beacon and then began soaring towards an opening towards the top of the Technodrome.  
"I got April!" Raph announced. He had begun dialing April's number as soon as he heard Sam mention the beacon.  
Donnie took the phone and looked down as he saw April's face on the other end of the line.  
"Now! Close the portal now!"  
"Ohhhhhhhh!" Mikey said, holding his knuckle up to his chin.  
Donatello looked up and all four brothers rushed to get as close as they could to watch, and finally, they saw the drone sneak out through the last open crack. All the pieces of the ship were now beginning to follow the beacon that was being carried by the drone back up towards the portal.

"Yes!" Donnie shouted.  
"Yes?" Mikey questioned, not quite sure what just happened.  
"Yes!" Donnie replied as he nodded towards his baby brother with a huge smile.  
Even Leo and Raph were doing double takes once their nerdy brother confirmed that this was a time for celebration.  
"YEAHHHHHH!" Raph shouted.  
"Aw yeah!" Mikey added.  
"Woohoo!" Leo chimed in as each turtle latched onto each other in brotherly hugs.  
They each expected Sam to be a part of their family hugging, but were shocked to see that she was no longer behind them.  
They turned around to see Sam quickly put a pill into her mouth as she stood over top of the still fallen Krang.  
"No…no! Impossible! How would they have followed me here to give you that?!" he wailed.  
Sam then crouched down and shoved her hand into Krangs head.  
The turtles saw hers and Krangs eyes roll into the back of their heads for a solid ten seconds before Sam finally removed her hand and stumbled backwards.  
"Sam what the hell?!" Raph yelled as she stumbled back into his grasp.  
"Sam?" Mikey mumbled as he watched his friend continue to shake.  
"Hold onto her Raph! This is our stop!" Leo called.  
While Sam had been shaking, the group had ridden on one of the floating pieces until it came close enough for them to jump off and land on the top of a tall office building.  
Raph carefully placed Sam on the ground once they had stuck their landing and all four brothers were now standing together and watching as a weak Krang flew by on his own floating piece, declaring that he would be back and a thousand times stronger at that.

The boys then watched as all the pieces returned through the portal back from where they once came.  
They went to celebrate once more, but were blown back from a gust of air that was released as the portal officially closed.  
As they all fell to their backs, they saw that Sam was now sitting up behind them and staring up at the sky.  
"Dang Donnie, you're gonna need another drone now" she stated as she shook her head.  
"SAM!" they all exclaimed as they scrambled to their feet.  
Leo helped her stand up and was gentle in doing so, making sure not to harm her shoulder.  
He gave her a serious look.  
"You finally gain a chance to control your emotions and then you go bat-shit crazy at the end. What were you doing?" he asked strictly, although his voice was also laced with concern.  
"I did what they told me to" she replied nonchalantly.  
The boys all looked back and forth amongst each other.  
"That, who told you Sam?" Donnie asked.  
"The Neutrinos" Sam said with a beaming smile. "They didn't visit you guys?" she questioned.  
"No, because they don't exist" Raph stated in a mocking tone.  
"Say what?" Sam asked.  
"Uh, no offense Sam, but no one was on that ship but us and Krang. We never saw anyone" Mikey added gently.  
"Well yeah, because they shrunk themselves down so that Krang wouldn't find them. They're actually pretty cool people. Funky hair and clothes though."  
"Wow, blood loss must make you delusional" Raph teased.  
Sam displayed a hurt expression.  
"But, I'm not making it up. They were there. They're the reason I was able to take that pill-"  
"And what did that do again?" Leo cut in.  
Sam went to talk, but she felt like now wasn't the best time to explain the horrible images that she saw as she read through the recent thoughts of Krangs mind.  
"I promise I'll explain, but not now. We just won, you know? But I promise later I'll tell you everything I know."  
The boys looked back and forth at each other and decided that she had made a fair argument. They had JUST won their battle against Krang, so they thought it wouldn't be fair to make Sam go into what seemed to be more troublesome details after just being given time to cool their heads.  
"Fine, I guess that's fair" Raph said as he gently nudged her shoulder.  
It wasn't a hard nudge at all, but it was the fact that it was her shoulder. The cut shoulder. The one that was throbbing and sore as hell right now.  
Sam was a strong woman, but with this much pain, she literally couldn't control the tears forming in her eyes. It hurt like a bitch, but with her pain trainings she could handle it…but just to mess with Raph she was totally gonna milk this.  
The boys all winced as Sam grunted in pain from the contact and she then immediately turned to face Raph with her now teary eyes.  
"Why do you hate me?" she asked softly, and his reaction was all she could have hoped for.  
"Uh, um, I mean, I don't, um, uhhhhh" Raph stuttered, regretting the simple nudge.  
Mikey then flicked Sam's forehead.  
"Heyyy" she said as she pouted towards her best friend, whom was now waving his finger at her.  
"Tsk, tsk Samantha. Messing with Raphael like that on purpose" Mike playfully ridiculed.  
"Wait, what?" Raph asked in a rough voice.  
"ANYWAY" Leo stated, changing the subject before a brand new war broke out between the siblings, even though Raph and Sam were playfully aiming slowed punches that didn't even touch the other towards one another, "I knew all that would work out" he said with a playfully cocky grin.  
"Okay hold up!" Mikey said, "so you really thought that us 5 teenagers could save the whole world?"  
"Sure" Leo replied smoothly. "Guys, we've got something that no one else has." 

The five of them then gathered together, going from Mikey on the right, to Raph, to Leo, to Sam, to Donnie on the left, and then placed their hands into a pile. And as they lifted them up into the air the main words they all heard were: "GARBAGE TRUCK!"  
All eyes were now on Raph as the rest of the group had confused grins on their faces.  
"Garbage truck?" Leo asked with a grin.  
"Um, uh" Raph stuttered, instantly looking towards Mikey for help.  
"Well we do have that!" Mikey and Sam said at the same time as they pointed towards Raph, trying to ease his embarrassment at saying the wrong word.  
"But let's go with the other one though" Mikey added.

So once again the group put their hands together and this time they all announced:  
"TURTLE POWER!" 

**1\. GUYS I never realized until I watched this up close that none of the brothers knew they had officially won until Donnie started screaming! Like Mikey even questions "yes?" before he cheers and Leo does double takes, even the fearless leader didn't know they won until Donnie made it known. I was laughing so hard when I realized this!**

**2\. OH MY GOD I SOMEHOW WROTE THIS IN TWO NIGHTS! Like I stayed up super late but like oh my gosh yes! I mean there's still a little bit to add because this wasn't directly where the movie ended, but the fact that my fic has reached this point is mind blowing! Like I'm almost at the end of arc 2!  
Hehe, hope you all stick around to see what comes next! **

**3\. If you're wondering why I ignored the other half of what was happening during this scene, I kind of left out what April, Casey, and Vern did during the movie only because we all can see what they did and the only change I made to that part was that Jay is now with them, which we'll hear about that a little bit next chapter. In the future, after the scenes of the film, I will definitely include what is happening behind the scenes of the fight, but I've ignored that more in this section of my story only because we already know what happens and obviously all the major changes to the fight occurred where the turtles were. **

**4\. Thank you again to all of those who leave comments, like, views etc. and to all who have taken the time to read through this story. And to the guests who leave comments, thank you so much. I wish I could thank you/all of you individually since I'm not sure who all the guests are, but this shout-out is to all of you for communicating your likes and thoughts :) Any type of support and advice is always appreciated. **


	18. Chapter 45

**Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC's and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. ****  
****Thank you. **

****Chapter #45

***The same day, Monday June 8****th****, 2015. A little after 12:50p.m. in the lair***

****The fight had ended at 12:50p.m. The turtles wanted to head straight home, but Sam knew that she couldn't run from Chief Vincent forever. Her turtle brothers however were not going to allow her to turn herself over so easily. They convinced her to at least return with them to the lair and have a full on discussion with everyone who played a role in the events that had occurred that day.

When the group of 5 returned to the lair, they met up with April, Casey, Jay, and Vern. All three men instantly began talking about how 'badass' they were during their fights (after Jay rushed over to hug his sister, while also mildly panicking at her injuries, and then further checking to make sure she was truly okay). Jay and Casey talked about how they teamed up and out-smarted the giant mutants they were up against, and Vern was thrilled to announce that he had taken out a Foot soldier all by himself by jumping down from a large freight shipping crate.  
While Raph was impressed with what these guys had accomplished, he was getting fed up that Sam kept standing up from her chair and that he had to keep gently pushing her back down to stay seated. She had stood up for the 5th time by the time he was fed up and was ready for the conversation to get back on track.

"Alright already! You guys did great, and we appreciate it, but can we please talk about how we're going to handle THIS?" he emphasized as he shoved Sam back down into her chair for the 6th time.  
Sam plopped down and groaned as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs.  
"Ughhhhh can I please get up so I can use the bathroom?"  
Raph crossed his arms and looked down at her.  
"I don't buy it" he huffed.  
"Raph, the main bathroom is right around that corner. She's knows that if she tries to leave that I have access to all the tunnels traps right here" Donnie said gently (but also in a tone so that she knew that even though he was facing Raph he knew Sam would get the hint).  
"I don't want to escape, I just wanna pee!" Sam whined, her face literally on the table as she leaned forward in her chair.  
"Fine" Raph gave in.  
Sam then quickly scoot back in her chair and rushed to stand up. She made sure to glare at Raph before she practically ran towards the bathroom.  
"Don't give me that face!" Raph called after her.  
"If you don't like my face then look at my ass!" she retorted.  
Mikey quickly cupped his hand to his mouth to hide his laughter, but Raph smacked him across the back of the head anyway.  
"My sister everyone" Jay said as he shook his head and laughed.  
"So, you guys knew she would have turned herself in back there to, huh?" he asked.  
The four sighed and slumped down into the remaining chairs at the table.  
"If we hadn't boxed her in then she would have walked right over towards Vincent without even thinking about it!" Donnie scream whispered, slamming his pointer finger into the table as a means to emphasize his frustration.  
"We have to come up with something" Mikey said softly with saddened eyes, "we can't just let her throw her life away."  
"Casey, what are the odds of Vincent meeting with Sam and discussing everything that happened the other night and why she attacked the police the way she did?" Leo asked.  
Casey bit his lip and rubbed his hands down his neck.  
"Before tonight I would have said she didn't have a chance at all for that to happen, but after seeing how you guys saved the city and possibly the entire world, she may give her a chance to explain. I can definitely talk to her, and Jay, April, and Jade can aide me as well. If you're willing that is" Casey said as he now turned and faced April.  
The woman began nodding her head as soon as she heard her name.  
"Of course. She's been through hell, and Vincent needs to understand that before she makes her final decision in how to deal with Sam."  
"So it's settled," Raph added, "we keep things down low and avoid telling Sam because who knows what she'll try to sneak by us. You guys talk to Vincent, we keep her busy down here until the time comes for Sam to meet with the chief."  
"She has to rest up anyway. Her shoulder needs to properly heal, and her hands were cut up pretty badly as well" Donnie added. "We'll use that, and also testing out her powers as reasons as to why we want to keep her down here."  
"One more thing" Mikey added.  
All eyes were now on the youngest in the room. Leo couldn't explain it, but somehow he knew just what his baby brother was going to say, and he agreed with it wholeheartedly.  
"Whenever Vincent decides to meet Sam, we HAVE to be allowed to join her. The two don't meet in any way unless the four of us are right behind her" Mikey demanded, using his hands to speak the same way Donnie had.  
Donnie and Raph looked at their youngest, and then right towards their oldest brother. They waited for him to state why this was a bad idea, but Leo just shrugged and smiled.  
"Couldn't have said it better myself" he chuckled.

Just then Sam had exited the bathroom.  
She looked up and could tell that everyone was purposefully making sure to avoid eye contact with her, which obviously meant that they had all been talking about her.  
She rolled her eyes as she continued to walk towards the table.  
"Geez, you use the bathroom once and you turn into Medusa" she stated as she walked back and slumped down into her chair.  
"Well then you should be honored to see yourself as such a lovely lady" Mikey said cheerfully, thinking he was complimenting his friend.  
Sam squinted her eyes and formed an odd smile as she turned towards her friend.  
"Mikey, who's Medusa?" she asked.  
He shrugged. "I dunno, some goddess right?"  
Sam nodded. "If that's all you know, then I'll take what you just said as a compliment" Sam said with a smile.  
"Exactly!" Mikey announced, crossing his arms with pride.

"Well we don't want you turning men into stone so you're going to relax down here" Jay said as he pat his sister on the shoulder and stood up.  
"Saw that coming" Sam mumbled.  
"And hey look at this" Donnie said as he held the girls hand to her face, "you're also injured! And this isn't your only injury either! So that means you get to head over to the med lab. Looks like you were staying here anyway" he said with too much enthusiasm as he pulled Sam along with him, even if she was groaning all the way.

With that, the turtles gave Donnie space to check on Sam (who ended up nerding out as Donnie tested some of his latest medical tech on her). Each of the remaining brothers went off on their own for a while.  
Meanwhile, their human friends up above were working towards arranging that meeting like they discussed. Sam had no idea this was in the works, and that's just how they wanted it to be. Jade and Casey talked to Vincent first and provided evidence (with Jay sharing his own personal stories as well) as to how Sam ended up in her current situation. He included details of how they grew up and the tragedies they faced and how that led her to the turtles who had continued to help straighten her out. April also joined in and explained the turtles back story (after gaining permission from the turtles and Splinter to do so) and helped fill in missing details about what had happened that the turtles cared for Sam so much, why they were working together to break into headquarters that night, and why Sam had reacted the way that she did.  
After 4 days of discussions and research on the events that had occurred recently, Vincent finally decided that she would meet with Sam with the turtles behind her.

***4 days later, Friday June 12****th****, 2015 at 9p.m. at Police Headquarters. The hallway right outside the chiefs office***

****The group of 5 were updated that Vincent was willing to meet with Sam and that she was kind enough to let the turtles accompany her. However, the turtles needed to remain silent and let Sam do the talking on her own. If they wanted to remain in the room with her, then they needed to remain calm.  
She wanted to meet with them in a private location where she could record the conversation, so she made arrangements for the group to meet her in her office once the sun would be going down. She sent the majority of her officer's home so that the group would have the walk of the building without exposure of being seen by new faces.  
So here they were. Sam was sitting calmly outside the office. The brothers…not so much.

Raph was pacing as he always did, crunching a hand weight as he did so.  
Leo kept tapping his feet.  
Donnie was holding a small cellular device in his hand which he kept tapping against the palm of his other hand.  
Mikey was constantly twiddling his thumbs together.  
Sam was about to say something to them, but Jade had interrupted her thoughts as she carefully exited the office.  
"The chief is ready to see you now" she stated.  
The four boys shot right up and got into their typical formation: two brothers in front of Sam, two brothers behind.

The group entered the office. The boys stood a little further towards the back while Sam took a seat in the front. She was hooked up with patches and wires in order to conduct a lie detector test. The man reviewing the results was a member of the NYFS who had already seen the turtles before and had sworn long ago never to reveal a bit of information about them to anyone.  
Chief Vincent smiled as she noticed how the boys were respecting her wishes.  
"The four of you may sit down as well. I said you couldn't talk over top of her, I didn't say you had to hide yourselves."  
The four nodded and then assumed their same positions. Mikey sat on Sam's left and Leo on her right. Raph sat behind Mikey, and Donnie right behind Leo.  
"So," the chief said as she stared right at Sam's eyes, "I'm going to run through things from the very beginning, and I'm going to ask you some questions to see if they match what other voices have told me."  
Sam was silent, but she nodded to show she understood.  
"What happened July 28th 2010?"  
Sam pursed her lips together before she spoke.  
"I lost everything, everything except for my brother."  
"How?"  
"The Foot. They killed everyone."  
"Who-"  
"My siblings, my family" Sam cut in.  
Vincent nodded her head.  
"I see. And you were 12 at the time. I can see how that would lead you to lash out and commit the crimes that you did" Vincent said as she held her hands together on her desk.  
"I see you've been looking at my record" Sam stated.  
"You have a record?" Mikey asked, slight shock in his voice.  
His eyes went wide and he then turned towards the chief.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry-"  
"It's okay. Obviously your friend never told you about her criminal days. I'd advise you explain your thought process now."  
Sam gulped and sighed.  
"You know how I bring you guys with me to explore the city? Well, it took me a few tries before I became good at it."  
"Oh" the chief said with wide eyes, "you've included them in your breaking and entering?"  
Now Sam was starting to get pissed. She responded with more sass and attitude than she had meant to.  
"Yes. Because my family was dead, my brother was never around because he was being manipulated to work for the Foot, and every friend or anything close I ever had completed abandoned me because they knew why my family died but decided to hide the truth from me until it almost ruined my life even further. So yes, when you have nothing to look forward to, you find something that makes you feel alive again, something risky that makes you feel like you're fighting back even though you don't know what you're fighting for, something that-"  
Just then she felt a hand from each brother on either her arm or her shoulder.  
She closed her eyes and didn't open them until she had calmed herself down.  
"Yes. I snuck into places because I had nothing, and that's what gave me purpose, like I was looking for any type of sign. Eventually that lead me to these guys, and for once I had something to look forward to."  
"And that was?"  
Sam looked the chief right in the eye.  
"Living life to the fullest with my family."  
Vincent couldn't help but notice the small smiles that were being fought to be kept hidden away from the brothers as they listened to the girl talk.  
"Well, it seems these four have helped keep you out of trouble at least since after those 4 incidents of us catching you breaking into various buildings, the only things we have left on your record are all your different therapy sessions. Besides for medical and academic records, nothing comes back up under your name until last summer when you apparently joined the Foot clan. Explain that to me."  
Leo and Mikey sensed Sam clenching her fists under the table. She was obviously growing frustrated from having to discuss some of the most depressing and most difficult times of her life all at this one very moment.  
"My brother told me to leave the city and run away because Shredder wanted me as a recruit. But I knew that leaving would lead to Jay's death, and I wasn't going to let that happen."  
Chief Vincent tilted her head to the side.  
"Why exactly did Shredder want you of all people?"  
"Look at who's sitting around me" Sam said matter of factly.  
She felt a light nudge by Leo, meaning she needed to politely answer the question again.  
"Shredder found out I was friends with these guys, so he demanded that I either come work for him, or Jay and I both perish. At the time plans were already being made for a rebellion to occur within the Foot clan, so I joined thinking I would be in and out quickly. Unfortunately I was in there for an entire month before the plans were put into action."

"And that's where these four come in, right? You became closer to them because they helped save you and everyone else."  
The room was silent as everyone waited for a remark from Sam. Without moving their entire bodies, the four brothers slightly turned so they could look at Sam, confused and worried at her long pause. Finally, she figured out how she wanted to respond.  
"It…it was a lot more than them just showing up to save me…" she muttered.  
She then looked up and saw that based on the chief's expression, she was obviously waiting for Sam to elaborate on that response.  
This was all really beginning to stress her out. Every dark turn her life had ever faced was being relived right now, right in this moment, and it was beginning to pull her into a brand new dark hole in itself from the upsetting emotions she was experiencing.  
She then felt Mikey place his leg right next to hers, and even this gentlest type of physical contact brought her back to reality.  
"I had just gained their trust, they had just started seeing me as family. And what happens? They see me working with the Foot clan. They felt betrayed, I felt like an idiot, I got into a fist fight with one of them and could have possibly killed him, and then the rest told me to leave."  
All four brothers looked off to the side, remembering these dark days and regretting so much about how everything was handled.  
"All in all, I betrayed my family and once again I felt like I had lost everything. So when they showed up unexpectedly, it changed everything."  
Sam then looked back up at the chief, hoping she had said enough to answer the chiefs question, and she could tell by Vincent's expression that she had done so.  
"Alright. So explain to me how you gained these powers then. What caused them?"  
"A mix of Shredder's experiments and also me dying" Sam said straightforward.  
This caught the chief off guard.  
"Excuse me?"  
"Oh, you didn't know? Shredder was constantly testing mutagenic chemicals on humans and-"  
"Not that. You, you died?"  
"Oh yeah. Saving this one" she said, shaking her hand with her thumb pointed towards Mikey, who looked embarrassed as he was being pointed at. "But it's okay because he used a special type of mutagen that brought me back to life. It gave me powers in regards to controlling and manipulating wind while also giving me enhanced strength. And yes, that's what you saw at headquarters the other night, an example of what those powers can do-"  
"Objection!" Donnie interrupted, the thoughts in his head overriding his actions.  
His brothers were all staring at him with wide eyes, hoping that whatever he had to say wouldn't get them or Sam in trouble.  
Sam however was smirking as she turned around to face Donnie. "Objection?" she asked.  
"Um, I just had something to add, if that's allowed" Donnie stated, attempting to sound confident as he first looked at Sam and then at the chief.  
The chief nodded. "Alright, go on."

"Sam gained her powers because of the mutagen that was injected into her body due to circumstances involving her time with the Foot, but we've been monitoring them as best as we can. We've learned a great deal about how they work and what she is able to do with them, but we also just recently learned that this mutagen zones in on the users temporal lobe in the brain, meaning it can affect memories and emotions. So when she attacked the other night at headquarters-"  
"It was out of her control" the chief interrupted. "It's obvious she has an emotional connection to all of you, so based on what you just said, when her family was threatened she took action."  
"Couldn't control the action at the time" Sam mumbled, "but I can now. I would never harm anybody like that on purpose."  
"How do you know your emotional senses are now stable?" the chief asked.  
"She controlled herself during our fight with Krang" Leo added. "Mikey got caught, but Sam controlled herself and helped us save him, rather than letting her protective emotions take over and just act without thinking."  
'So she was with them' the chief thought to herself. She was still curious and a bit worried about what risks the girl in front of her could cause to the city, but it seemed she was with a crowd that could maintain control of her. This played a major role in the chief making her final decisions about what to do with Sam.

"Alright, so here's the deal" the chief began, "we have records of Sam, and we have records of you. Sam's were already on file, but all my information about the four of you is pretty new. I've seen video files that were hidden away from the night the Foot fell, and many ex Foot in the NYFS told stories of how they were stopped because of you guys and how if it weren't for you, Shredder would have gotten away with a lot worse in the past. As for you" she said as she now stared directly at Sam, "while you have a record, you've experienced things that no person should ever have to go through, let alone a child. I'm not saying that makes your early actions okay, but I see where your mind was. That and the fact that your brother eventually convinced you to clean up your act and you're now in programs that positively represent our city, it's obvious you're no longer into regular criminal activity. I'm not exactly thrilled to hear you sneak into buildings after dark, but it also sounds like you're also doing so with these four who obviously have an incredible impact on you. Oh, I read all the letters people sent to the four of you, and if you're ever interested we'll make sure you see them" she said with a small smile. "SO, because of your improving records and emotionally reasonable life decisions you've made in the past, and because of the good work your friends have done to keep this city safe, I'm letting you off with a warning."  
All 5 sets of eyes were now staring wide at the chief.  
She smirked. "Even though you broke many obvious laws in regards to harming officers, you yourself have helped keep this city safe by taking tremendous risks to your body that aided you in stopping Shredder when you probably could work towards taking over the city yourself. So, as long as you follow my rules, then you're safe."  
"And, what exactly are your rules?" Sam asked cautiously.

"I don't know if you've heard, but the NYPD and the NYFS are officially partners now, so anytime you hear anything about this Krang or Shredder or god knows what else will come for us, you ALL need to report your findings to us. In order for our parties to respect each other, we have to trust each other and work together."  
The group nodded, assuming this wasn't such a bad rule.  
"I'm going to turn a blind eye to your group sneaking into places since from what I've understood none of you have ever stolen anything anywhere you've gone. As the cities heroes that hide in the shadows, we'll pretend we don't know anything as long as you don't break any rules outside of sneaking in."  
Again, the group nodded their heads.  
"My final rule, you all need to send updates to the NYFS about Sam's powers and any progress you make in better understanding them."  
The chief could sense the tension in the room once she stated her final rule.  
"Look," she said as she made sure to face each person in the room at least once as she spoke, "I know that's not what you want to hear, but if for whatever reason something goes wrong I need to know so that I can keep the people within this city safe. I have no idea what exactly could go wrong, but that's also because I don't know anything about these powers except for what you told me seconds ago. I'm fine with you conducting whatever tests you're planning since the other day you made it clear that you have enough tech to do so, but we need those records after you've collected them. If that fails to happen, then any tests deemed important will be conducted by the NYFS. Plus, this allows the rest of us to understand what's going on in case, somehow, Sam seems off to certain extents. The way I'm explaining it sounds horrible, but I hope you all can understand what I'm getting at."

Leo nodded his head.  
"We get what you're saying. Donnie?" he asked since this last rule would affect him the most out of his brothers.  
"I get it. Message received loud and clear" Donnie stated. He wasn't thrilled with basically having to share information about what type of tech he had or would be using since this would be revealed in the tests that would be completed, but if it meant keeping Sam safe then these reveals would be worth it.  
"Alright" the chief said as she stood up with a smile, "in that case you're all free to go. Oh, and I assume we'll see you all tomorrow at this same time down around Battery Park."  
The boys looked back and forth at each other in confusion.  
"Battery Park, ma'am?" Leo asked.  
Her face scrunched as she stared back at him.  
"Well yes, it's one of the few places you can go in order to reach the Statue of Liberty. That's where your ceremony is being held."  
"Our ceremony?" Raph questioned.  
"Yes, where you're all getting your keys to the city. Did you not tell them?" the chief asked as she looked down at Sam.  
Sam was trying her best not to laugh at the shocked expressions on the boys faces.  
"Heh, no" she stated bluntly, playfully curling up in her chair as a chorus of 'SAMMMM!' 'Aw come on!' and other claims were made aloud.  
"Why didn't you tell us?" Leo asked in a mix of frustration and excitement.  
"Because your reactions are priceless. I wanted to see if I could go all the way up until tomorrow night before you realized. But this reveal is just as awesome" she said as all the brothers started nudging her.  
"We'll be there and ready right at 9" Leo reassured to the chief.  
"Excellent."  
"Oh, just to be sure-"  
"The only ones that will be there are your immediate human family and the officers who helped you enter the building" the chief said with a smile, knowing what Leo was thinking before he could speak. "Anything else I can answer for you before you go?" she asked.  
Leo paused, and then a huge smile grew on his face.  
"Can we bring our dad?"

***The next night, Saturday June 12****th****, 2015. 9p.m. at the Statue of Liberty monument***

****And that was exactly where the group was now.  
Donnie had driven the truck and followed Jay and Casey's cars all the way towards Battery Park where the group then boarded a ferry that took them over to the Statue of Liberty monument site.  
There the four were given their keys to the city as a small ceremony was held to congratulate and thank the turtles for their hard work.  
Chief Vincent stood and spoke from a speaking stand as she gave a short speech about who the turtles were and all that they had done for the city.  
All the participating officers stood in rows in front of the small stage where the turtles were now standing tall and proud.  
In the crowd stood Vern, and on his right Jade, and then Jay, Sam, April, and Casey on the far end.  
Splinter had also joined the group and was currently attending the event, but he could sense that multiple female officers were a bit 'freaked out' by his appearance as a giant rat, so in respect to them he decided to find a comfortable spot where he could bask in the warmth from the lights above and made it his own. He was still in clear and close eye sight of his boys, and that's all that mattered.  
As the brothers stood on the stage, Leo, Donnie, and Mikey were all facing towards the chief as she spoke while Raph was currently facing outwards at the crowd of people who were here congratulating him and his brothers, something he never thought would ever happen.  
Chief Vincent was now coming towards the end of her speech. He then began to smirk as he saw Sam keep wiping at her eyes. Man she was more emotional than she allowed people to know and realize about her.

"For your incredible valor within this community, and for your uncompromising cooperation with this agency, I present to you the keys to the city. A symbol of our appreciation, respect, and for our continued partnership. To you, brothers:  
Leonardo"  
Leo had been staring out towards his father. Knowing that his dad was here to see the progress that he and his brothers had made in keeping the city safe, and in working together as a team based on everything their father had ever taught them, this was one of the greatest honors he could ever truly receive. He then looked up at the chief as he heard her announce his name and he shot her an appreciative smile, displaying how thankful he truly was for this experience.  
"Raphael"  
Raph shot a similar smile towards the chief and then shone this smile towards the crowd, specifically his human family. It all started with April, and then Vern came along and helped them (no matter how 'macho' he tried to be) and then came Sam and Jay, and now even Casey seemed to care and want to help lookout for the group, and Raph would be a total liar if he said he didn't feel any type of bromance with the hockey maniac that had joined their group.  
"Donatello"  
Donnie had been watching his brothers as their names were called and was grateful just to see the two of them calm and at peace for once. While he was excited to receive this honor, right now it was his brothers that were all on his mind. Family always came first, and to see his oldest brothers so happy meant more to him than any key to the city ever could. He then turned in time to see his youngest brother have his name called, and he chuckled at the way his baby brother reacted.  
"Michelangelo"  
Mikey had been staring at all his oldest brothers the way Donnie had. As a younger brother, all he could ever want was for his oldest 3 brothers to feel happy and at peace, so seeing their reactions made his heart happier than anything else. However, he was still the baby brother, so of course his reaction was still very comical compared to Donnie's more mature and nonchalant glanced smile to the crowd. Mikey heard his name and he whipped his body forward and his hand shot up to give a quick wave to the all those watching.

"Uh, last names?" the chief whispered to the brothers.  
Each of their faces went blank as they realized they had never EVER thought of this, and they also began to wonder how the heck they had never once thought of this.  
Donnie was about to make a comment when they all heard someone coughing, and possibly trying to speak from the crowd.  
"cough, cough, ama, cough, toe" Sam coughed.  
"I'm sorry?" the chief questioned.  
"Ahem" Sam said, lightly beating her hand to her chest to make it seem like she was actually coughing. "I said their last name is Hamato" she said as she held her arms down below in front of her waist and twiddled her thumbs. She then turned towards Splinters direction, as if gaining his approval. "Right Sensei?"  
Splinter stroked his furred beard between his claws.  
"Hmmm Hamato, as in the great ninja Hamato Yoshi…yes, that seems like a nice last name for our family. It blends together quite well."  
He then noticed Sam giving him a thumbs up with a large smile on her face, and the old rat couldn't help but laugh as he shot her a thumbs up in return.

"In that case, to the Hamato brothers, congratulations" the chief announced as a round of applause pursued for the brothers.  
People then began to disperse and talk amongst each other.  
Sam was smiling and watching over the brothers, who were now excitedly talking amongst each other, as she felt a light nudge in her right side.  
"Well, looks like someone had to copy me, huh?" April teased.  
"Psh, you named all of them, it's only fair that I get to give them one last name to share" she said as she nudged the woman back.  
"She's got a point" Casey added.  
April then teasingly shot him a confused look.  
"Okay, who's side are you on?" she asked.  
Sam noticed the obvious fliting going on between these two, so she turned to talk to Jay, only to notice that he was talking to Jade and Vern, so she decided it was time to move forward and congratulate her brothers.  
She took a few steps forward and hopped up onto the small stage. She then paused for a moment before deciding which brother to stand by and from which direction, trying not to obviously walk right over towards him first. She then shook her head, deciding that it didn't matter if she walked towards him or any other brother, they were all family and that's what mattered.  
"Wooooooooooow" she said as she leaned in close towards Leo's chest, "these things really shine."  
Leo gently pushed her back as he laughed.  
"Thank you for respecting me by not touching the key, but you're invading my personal space."  
"Dude, personal space doesn't exist within this family" Sam teased.  
Leo shrugged. "Fair enough" he said as he threw his arm around her, although he did so in a way where Sam now had an arm basically covering her head so that she couldn't stand up, similar to what he'd do if he were wrestling Mikey.  
"Okay! Okay I get it!" she said through laughs.  
Leo turned to face her once he let go.  
"Hamato Leonardo. I like it. It rolls off the tongue well" he said with a smile.  
"Right?! Like they all sound good when pronounced it the English format-"  
"English format?" Mikey questioned.  
"Yeah, like first name then last. Michelangelo Hamato. It sounds good right. But when said like how names are pronounced in Japan, last name then first, so Hamato Michelangelo-"  
"That sounds badass!" Mikey stated with wide excited eyes.  
Sam snapped her fingers and then pointed at him. "Exactly!"  
"What made you choose that name?" Donnie asked.  
"What, you don't like it?" She groaned as a means to tease him.  
He chuckled in response. "Actually, I love it. It sounds perfect. I'm just curious why seaside."  
"Why what?" Raph asked.  
"That's what Hamato is known to stand for" Sam responded. "But I chose it more so because of who the name belonged to rather than its meaning. The Hamato clan was known to defend and protect each other until their final breath. They were true warriors who honored the codes of the ninja, but also strongly believed in protecting one another. They lived in the shadows, but they made sure the rest of their clan was their waiting for them when they came back. They didn't go behind each other's back and they didn't betray each other. They were a true family" she said with pride.  
"Awww look at you getting all mushy" Raph said as he ruffled the girl's hair, in which she playfully scowled at him in response.

"Oh that's Sam alright" Jay said as he hopped up onto the small stage. "She has more emotions bottled up in here than she lets on" he said as he rubbed his knuckle against the top of her head.  
He then faced the four brothers.  
"Alright so I have three comments and questions for the four of you. First of all, congratulations Mr, Mr, Mr, and Mr. Hamato" he said as he waved his arm in front of him and then bowed.  
"Second. I wanted to ask this in front of all of you so that no one is keeping secrets from anyone, but this mostly pertains to you" he said as he now pointed straight at Donnie.  
"Me?" Donnie asked, pointing to himself.  
"Yes. So, there's a project that various scientists in the NYFS are working on and we were curious to know if you'd be willing to join us. Now that the Mutanimals live in the sewers they've been exploring and found an awesome underground space that we can use for this project. Don't worry, it's nowhere near your lair, and the few guys working on this project have already seen all of you before and have sworn to keep their mouths shut. What do you guys think?"  
Leo paused for a second. He wanted to trust and assume this would all be safe, but he also needed to take precautions both as leader and also as the 'always worried older brother,'  
Leo looked at Jay and then back towards the rest of his brothers.  
"We all go and check it out the first time to see what precautions you're taking and to meet the people you're working with, and also to learn more about what this project is. That will determine whether he officially participates or not."  
Leo then turned and faced Donatello. "Fair?" he questioned cautiously.  
Donnie nodded with a smile. "Fair."  
Jay clapped and rubbed his hands together in excitement.  
"Awwww this is gonna be awesome! Alright, final comment. PLEASEEEEEE RSVP as soon as possible whether you guys are attending or not. We're still trying to figure out how much food we need and we don't know whether or not we'll be sending plates up to you guys or not so once you know for sure please contact me" he said, holding his hands in front of him as if he was praying for their cooperation.  
Leo chuckled but shot him a puzzled look.  
"Um, sure. But what are we RSVPing for exactly?"  
Then the brothers paused as they began to realize what Jay was talking about.  
"Wait, you don't mean what I think you mean!" Mikey exclaimed with a huge smile on his face.  
"But, how? No way!" Raph stated.  
Jay's eyes were wide and his jaw dropped low.  
"Wait, are you guys serious?" he asked as he looked at the mix of puzzled and thrilled faces in front of him. "SAM!"  
While Jay had been talking to the boys, Sam had momentarily gone over and talked to Casey and Jade, but she was now returning to the stage as she heard her brother shout her name and then frantically wave her over.  
"What's up?"  
Jay stood there with one arm crossed over his stomach and the opposite knuckle resting on his chin. He then stood in front of Sam so that she was turned so that her back was to the guys as he spoke to her.  
"Sam, you told the guys they're invited to the wedding, right?"  
Because Sam was facing Jay she couldn't see the jumping Michelangelo, the jaw dropped older duo, and the smiling-arms behind his head Donatello.  
"Of course I did!" Sam stated, waving her brother away.  
"Really? Tell me how they reacted" Jay said.  
"Well…they…huh" Sam said with her arms crossed as she looked up towards the sky as she tried to remember what she told the turtles…only to realize that she had not, and that meant they were all reacting right now behind her.  
Her eyes widened as she spun around and stared at the now calm brothers after getting their excitement out.  
"Awwwwww you boob you did that on purpose! You didn't even record their reactions for me" she pouted.  
"Well that's what you get for keeping us in the dark!" Donnie teased as he slapped his hands down on her pouting shoulders as he stood behind her.  
"I didn't mean to" she mumbled, "I've just been very busy lately."  
"So, what else haven't you told us?" Raph asked.  
"Oh! Did she tell you she got accepted to Blair?" Mikey asked.  
This time Sam was able to see the boys animated reactions. Of course, right after they decided to tease her as much as possible.  
"Great, so that means we're stuck with you for the next four years?" Raph asked.  
"Oh you're stuck with me way longer than that!" Sam exclaimed.  
"Right, I keep forgetting you're the headache that just keeps coming back over, and over, and over again" he said, rolling his wrist.  
"Exactly! Now even the strongest pill can get rid of me" Sam said with a beaming smile.  
"Man you suck at updating people on important info" Leo mocked.  
Sam opened her mouth to defend herself, but then gritted her teeth together.  
"It's definitely not my strongest quality" she said, scooting back a bit in embarrassment.  
"Soooooo we're going right?" Mikey asked his brothers.  
"How exactly will all of that work?" Donnie asked.  
"So we have two way mirrors that will cover the top pews, that way you guys can sneak in and no one can see you, and then the church we're holding the wedding at has this huge back room where we're holding the reception" Jay informed them. "We'll have the few people who have actually met you guys keeping you up to date on what's happening, and yes we'll feed you" he said as he stared straight at Mikey.  
"Yeah, exactly as I told all of you" Sam said, before she was playfully shoved by all four brothers.  
"We'll be there" Leo said to Jay.  
"WE WILL?!" Mikey basically shrieked.  
"Yes, we will. But only if you behave" Leo said as he now pointed his finger at his youngest brother.  
"What? I'm always…uhhh never mind" he backed off as he saw the glares from his three older brothers.

Just then Chief Vincent returned back to the stage to talk to the brothers.  
Sam and Jay walked back over towards the small crowd and continued to mingle with familiar faces. Of course, Sam was eavesdropping as best as she could even from the further away distance where she was currently standing.  
"I think you should give people more credit" the chief said, "they'll accept you now."  
'They already did, it's your guys who didn't' Sam thought to herself.  
"You're probably right" said Raph's voice, "but uh, I think we'll stick to the arrangement that we already had."  
Sam smiled to herself, happy to hear that she would still get her quality time with the brothers. But then her face became more sunken and serious.  
'Wait…why am I so happy to hear that? I want them to be able to share their uniqueness and quirky abilities with others someday. What the hell?' Sam thought to herself.  
"If you ever need us, April knows where to find us" Leo stated calmly.  
Sam didn't know it, but the reason Leo had only mentioned April's name was because he wanted to keep Sam away from having to talk to the cops (unless she was in danger of course) as much as possible based on everything that had recently happened.  
"Really? You could live a normal life, like the rest of us" the chief stated with enthusiasm.  
This made Sam role her eyes. Of course she wanted the turtles to experience all that life had to offer, but she also loved how different they were. But then she heard Raph say:  
"Normal? What fun is that?"

Sam then turned around when she heard this and stared at the brothers, but she did so at an angle so that she could see them as she stared through the crowd of people, but from their angles they could not see her (or so she thought, since one of them wearing orange had been keeping his eyes on her in secret the entire time without her knowing).  
The chief chuckled. "Well based on what I already know, you four have had some interesting adventures. So I can understand and respect you choosing your lifestyle over ours. Besides, it seems you found some great family members even if you do spend most of your time underground."  
The boys smiled as they each looked out in the same direction that the chief now was at the family they had within the crowd. Mikey however was the only one that noticed Sam spin around once she saw the brothers gaze wash over the crowd.  
He chuckled. "Yeah, our extended family is pretty great" he said in a relaxed tone.  
The chief stared back at the turtles one final time.  
"Any last requests for the night before we all head home?" she asked.  
The brothers looked at each other and noticed that Leo kept looking back at the towering monument behind them.  
"You're allowed up there you know" the chief stated with a smile.  
Leo whipped back around. "We are?"  
She nodded. "I just have to tell the officers that guard this monument so that they know not to leave until you come back down."  
"Whoaaaaaaa. Thanks!" Mikey said enthusiastically.  
The chief laughed. "My pleasure. I'll be right back."

At that moment, Splinter joined the boys on stage.  
"My sons, I'm so proud of each and every one of you" he said with a heartwarming smile.  
"I'm so happy, yet so sad to see each of you grow and mature the way you are" he said genuinely.  
Mikey shot him a confused look. "Why would you be sad dad?"  
The old rat chuckled. "Simple. This means you are no longer the baby boys that I have watched over all these years" he said as he placed his hand on his youngest sons shoulder.  
The four brothers smiled.  
"Dad, you know we're always gonna be around no matter how old we get, right?" Leo reassured with a smile.  
"I know, but all parents feel this way as they see their children grow over time. BUT, tonight is a time for all of you to celebrate together. I on the other hand am going to head home. Don't do anything crazy now" he said with a playful glare towards his sons.  
"Pffff what, us?" Raph teased. "As if."  
"Wait, who are you leaving with? You're not heading home by yourself" Donnie stated.  
Splinter shook his head. "Do not worry my son, I'm heading home with our human companions since it seems they're all leaving now as well."  
The group looked over and saw their human friends walking over to say their final goodbyes.  
While April, Casey, Vern, Jay, and Jade all said goodbye to the oldest three brothers, Mikey pulled Sam away from the group to talk to her.  
"Okay what's happening?" Sam asked a little more awkwardly than she meant to.  
"You're leaving?" he asked as if he had just been punched in the gut.  
"Only for 8 years."  
"WHAT?!"  
"I'm kidding!" she laughed as she pushed his shoulder. "I'm just heading home with Jay so I can help him and Brenda plan their upcoming wedding since important planning was put on hold due to this crazy alien invasion that happened a few days ago. You should have been there for it, it was all over the news!-"  
"Why are you heading home?" Mikey said, interrupting her teasing.  
She shot him a confused look. "I just told you, to help with wedding-"  
"But you can do that any day. Why tonight?" he asked timidly.  
Sam could sense that her friend felt hurt, as if she was ditching him to go hangout with someone else and like she was avoiding them.  
She smiled and began to talk in a more serious tone.  
"Look, when I still had my siblings, there were times where we would all hang out as a family while also inviting all are friends that were as close as family, but there were also times where we wanted people to respect our need to hang out with those that were just family. Sometimes siblings have to just focus on each other. That doesn't mean I'm going away, it means I'm respecting that you guys need time where it's just you. Plus, I know I'm the greatest tomboy out there, but brothers still need times to just be themselves. Just like how there were times I wanted to be alone with my sisters, no matter how different Amber and I were from the other two" she said with a light laugh.  
Mikey shot her a genuine smile. "You look out for us too much" he teased, although this type of teasing had sincerity to it.  
Sam looked him right in the eye and smiled. "Well that's what happens when you have four new younger brothers that take over your life."  
As she spoke, Mikey could sense from the sparkle in her eyes alone how much he and his brothers truly meant to Sam. He hoped that she realized that they all felt the same way about her.  
"Now come on" she said as she spun him around and began to pull on his arm, "let's get back to the group before they start getting suspicious."  
"Heh, okay" he said, although in his mind he was thinking 'suspicious of what?'

Once the two joined the rest of the group Sam updated them that she would be heading home with Jay and Jade (who was also involved in the wedding) to help with wedding planning. The remaining three brothers teased her some, but they didn't need her to go into full details about why she was truly leaving. They all knew her well enough to know where her mindset was at.

With that, the human group began to head out. Splinter went with April, Casey, and Vern, and Sam went with her older brother and Jade.  
As the group was beginning to board the ferry to head back to Battery Park, they all turned around to see the four boys cheering from the top of the statue of liberty.  
"Man they're fast" Jade said with a smile.  
"They're also just insane" Jay teased, knowing his Sensei could hear him.  
"I'd defend them, but they all have their interesting moments. But you didn't hear that from me" the old rat teased.  
Sam laughed and then looked back up at her four turtle brothers. She was happy to see them united as a group once again, and although she had just stated to Mikey that she knew they needed time to hangout by themselves, she'd be a liar if she wasn't hoping that the time she would get to hang out with them again would come by soon.  
'Then again, a small, extremely short break from these guys wouldn't be horrible, especially after those weird random thoughts I had about him the other night' she thought to herself with a shudder (to which she informed a suspicious Jay that it was just the breeze from the cold night's air).  
Minutes later the group arrived back at the port where Sam decided that once she met back up with her brothers, everything would be back to normal…she hoped. 

**Random info: so I listen to a wide variety of music and many times I listen to songs that motivate me to plan out and come up with ideas for future and current events throughout the series. If anyone is interested, I would highly recommend listening to the song Beautiful Creatures by Illenium. Like if you listen to the lyrics you can twist them so that it fits the lives and goals of the turtles, at least those are the images I've been picturing as I listen to that song (that and the vocals and more techno instrumental sound is insanely addicting). But seriously I could see this song being a perfect way to end a TMNT film as the credits come up. Kind of like how at the end of Out of the Shadows they had a new remixed version of the 80's theme playing while those cartoon images of the cast were played along the with the cast's names, I could see this song being used for something like that and being the perfect end to a TMNT movie. **


End file.
